IYD: For Teens - Teen Tells Congress

Elisa Svensson was an intern at the Institute for Youth Development. In the Fall of '99 she began her freshman year in college. In March, she testified before the House Commerce Subcommittee on Health and the Environment.

"Mr. Chairman and members of the Commerce Committee, thank you for inviting me to come here and share with you my experiences with tobacco. My name is Elisa Svensson and I am a senior in high school. Smoking is an issue that is important to me because I lost both a grandfather and a grandmother due to their smoking habits. My grandfather died of emphysema before I was even born. Tobacco took away my opportunity to know him. My grandfather's experience becomes even closer to me because his addiction took root in his teen years. When he was first my age he first became addicted, and throughout the years smoking became such an important part of my grandfather's life that he felt he could not live without it. All of this brings the consequences of teenage smoking closer to home and gives me a desire to prevent my peers from making the same mistake my grandfather made.

"Many do not want to admit that anything can control them, but too easily smoking can do just that. I think it is pathetic to see kids hide behind cars in my school parking lot in order to get that one midday smoke. Whether teens want to admit it or not, tobacco is controlling too many of their lives."

Teenage smoking is a huge problem and I think it affects my peers more than they realize. Many do not want to admit that anything can control them, but too easily smoking can do just that. I think it is pathetic to see kids hide behind cars in my school parking lot in order to get that one midday smoke. Whether teens want to admit it or not, tobacco is controlling too many of their lives.

Smoking is a dangerous and possibly deadly habit that must be dealt with seriously. It is a disgusting practice that is habit forming and unhealthy. The fact is we all know that it is bad for our health. A lack of information is not the problem. Teens choose to smoke in spite of the danger that they know exists. When I look at the struggles, including tobacco, that are facing myself and my peers, much of my concern can be summed up in one word: apathy. I see in my generation an apathy towards the consequences of their actions. The dangers of tobacco as well as drugs, alcohol, violence and premarital sex do not seem to impact my peers in the least.

"Let me reiterate, though, that the problems of teenage smoking, as well as other high risk behaviors, cannot be stopped in one simple measure. Smoking is just one of many problems that my friends and I face because we are floundering for answers to questions we face every day."

Growing up I witnessed firsthand the dangers that come with teenage drinking. I remember hearing that one of the boys in my neighborhood had been in a very serious car accidents. He had, in fact, been under the influence of alcohol and was using excessive speed when he ran into another car. Fortunately, no innocent people were injured, but this young man did not escape so easily. His teeth were knocked out and he suffered from many injuries to his face and head. I wondered to myself how his teeth could have been knocked out of his mouth, until I saw the car. The sister of this boy was one of my friends, and one day I went over to her house and she showed me the car from the accident. I was horrified as she explained that her brother's head had flown over the steering wheel and into the windshield. He had hit it so hard that the glass had cracked. It looked as if someone had thrown a bowling ball at the car. As young as I was, the image of that car will probably stay with me forever. Many teens are not as lucky as my friend, and their actions can have more deadly consequences. For some reason though, accidents like these continue to happen in spite of teenager's knowledge of the danger.

Drugs are another area where children are given a lot of information on the dangers involved, but they choose to put themselves at risk. In elementary school the Just Say No program was very popular. Through that program many of my friends heard over and over the harmful results illegal drugs can have. Negative advertising about drugs was all over TV at that time as well, but in the end, neither seemed to impact many actions. I still know the student leaders of that Just Say No program and six years later many are not taking their own advice. They are involved with the same drugs they were supposedly going to avoid. Somewhere between elementary school and twelfth grade my friends' minds were changed. Teenagers know that drugs and tobacco can permanently scar their lives in one way or another, but that information is not enough. We need to see it lived out.

I was driving to school one day when I witnessed the one factor that is most influential in a teenager's battle against the dangers of the world, including smoking. I was waiting in line in order to enter my high school's parking lot. I glanced in my rearview mirror and saw a girl from my PE class in the car behind me. As I watched I noticed that she was smoking a cigarette, and then I saw the reason she was smoking. Sitting right next to this young teenager was her mother, smoking along with her. Parents are the factor that can save teenagers from many of the destructive behaviors that can ruin our lives. That mother, whether she realized it or not, had passed on a behavior, a habit, to her daughter that she would probably struggle with for the rest of her life. Even if that mom did not care enough about her own life to stop smoking, she had a responsibility to protect her daughter.

Prevention for tobacco, alcohol, or drug use does not start in the classroom or on a TV commercial, it starts in a home where parents' number one priority is the welfare of their children. My parents have chosen to make that commitment to myself and my siblings and have sacrificed in order to set a good example for us. I don't smoke, use drugs, or drink, not because I am a strong person who can resist peer pressure, not because I went to a prevention class in third grade, but because my mom and dad set an example for me to follow, and then backed that up with a promise that they would not tolerate inappropriate behavior from me.

Tobacco is an addictive drug that is harming my peers and teenagers all over the country. I thank you for the legislation you are considering to help us in our battle. Let me reiterate, though, that the problems of teenage smoking, as well as other high risk behaviors, cannot be stopped in one simple measure. Smoking is just one of many problems that my friends and I face because we are floundering for answers to questions we face every day. The teenage years are an impossible time and every child needs strong leadership from adults around them. I would not have made it as far as I have without the guidance and support of my mom and dad. They have instilled in me values and skills that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. It is the family that needs to join the front lines of this battle against teenage smoking. Without their support the ranks will falter.