A new study has found that kids who watch R-rated movies are more likely to smoke cigarettes. But before you rush home and burn your copies of Rain Man
and Jerry Maguire, let’s take a closer look at the findings.
Researchers with the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program
(part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) found that sixth graders who are
allowed to watch R-rated movies are significantly more likely to believe they
could get their hands on a cigarette if they wanted to. Because previous
research has shown that kids who believe cigarettes are readily available are
more likely to smoke, researchers are arguing that there is a direct link
between R-rated movies and nicotine habits.
They can’t explain the reason for the link,
but are speculating that R-rated movies may be more likely to glorify smoking,
or that kids who watch films that “require an accompanying parent or guardian”
are less likely to be supervised by a parent or guardian. Huh?
Oddly, there is no indication in the study that kids are
watching these profane, sexually explicit movies without their parents. When I was
in sixth grade, it would have been much easier for me to get a cigarette (all
the older kids had them) than to watch, say, Pretty Woman, without my parent’s
consent. They did, by the way, consent. And I did, truth be told, occasionally smoke
clove cigarettes during my freshman year of college. Aha! These researchers may be on to
something after all….
Photo: Wikipedia
