Research Memo #3

Smoking not only affects the smoker, it also affects the families of the smokers. We can gain awareness about the dangers of smoking from media. You can see commercials, ads, graphs, and pictures that show the dangers and statistics of smoking. Through research memo three, I have found out a lot about smoking and how much media there is out there about it.

 

The first video I found was on YouTube. It was a college student who was interviewing fellow classmates on their views on smoking around campus. They also were asked if they felt like it was affecting their health and the way they breathe. A lot of them felt that it was annoying to have to walk through smoke clouds to get from class to class. This video was straight forward and I thought it was very truthful and informative. I am glad that I found this video because it is a primary source and its understandable since they are just a little older then us high school students.

 

The second video I found was also on YouTube. This one had a little girl in it that was crying to her dad telling him to stop smoking in the house. It related back to my research topic of does smoking affect you family as well as you? Within this video, I have found that it does because this little girl is crying for her dad to stop. She states that he is making it hard to breathe and her little sister is coughing from all the smoke he is exhaling. I thought that it is very informative and stated a point very clearly that it does affect your family as well.

Research Memo #2

 

I wanted to learn more about my topic and effects that it had on people. I wanted to research more and find answers to some of my research questions. I found some interesting details and information that will help support my topic and help me go further on in my project. The two sources that I have been looking at, have a lot of information that I believe I can use to support my topic of the affects of it.

 

In my first article, the surgeon general talked about how involuntary smoking takes place when nonsmokers inhale both side stream and exhaled mainstream smoke and that this "smoking" is "involuntary" when "the exposure occurs as an unavoidable consequence of breathing in a smoke-filled environment." Two studies on nicotine concentrations in nonsmokers raised concerns about nicotine as a contributing factor to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in nonsmokers. Dr. C. Everett Koop, Surgeon General in 1986, stated that "the right of smokers to smoke ends where their behavior affects the health and well-being of others; furthermore, it is the smokers' responsibility to ensure that they do not expose nonsmokers to the potential harmful effects of tobacco smoke."

 

In my second article, the surgeon general talks about how the smoke is killing children and adults who do not smoke. I found this information on the American cancer society website. I chose this website because I know that it is a very reliable source and I can understand the information. One of the interesting things I found out from this website is that the chemicals from the smoke reach the breast tissue, and is found in their breast milk. Children and infants who are exposed to second hand smoke are at an increased risk for SID's, acute respiratory infections, and more severe and frequent asthma attacks. Lastly, there is no safe level of exposure. Any amount of exposure to second hand smoke is extremely harmful.

 

 

Second hand smoke, as you can tell has many ways of affecting people. The statement that I think is the most powerful thing stated about SHS is what Dr. C. Everett Koop stated in 1986. It is very scary to know that chemicals from smoke can reach the breast tissue. When it reaches the breast tissue, it can harm babies that are breast feeding. After finding out information like this, I have found out how much it affects others and how dangerous it is. I want to do more to stop second hand smoke and I think with all the information I have found, I have a valid argument.

In my survey, I have noticed that most people chose the same answers. I asked the question "About how many people do you think die every year from cancers and diseases caused by smoke," and no one chose the correct answer. I thought that was interesting that a lot of people thought it was below ten thousand. About 44% of people chose this answer. My next question I asked was "which age group do you think is more susceptible to second hand smoke. I thought it was interesting that ten people thought infant- 5 year olds were most susceptible. There were also ten people who thought 6-10 year olds were most susceptible. A lot of guys who answered my survey were honest and said they smoked. Also they said that knowing the effects of second hand smoke wouldn't change their decision to smoke. Not as many girls smoked and the ones who did didn't do it on a regular basis. I thought that it was also interesting that girls said that knowing about the effects would or could change their decision.

 

 

Conclusion: From my results, my hypothesis was correct. I thought that more people would chose health and physical being over emotions. A lot of people did circle emotions though. 17 people chose health and physical being and 15 chose emotions. The surprise to me was that only 13 people thought mental being was affected. I thought more people would have chosen mental being because mental has to do with your mind and brain and most people know smoking can mess with your brain. Based on my results, I can conclude that not everyone knows what can be affected when you are exposed to second hand smoke.

 

 

Follow up: After looking at these results, I want to research how second hand smoke affects people around you. I changed my question to "does smoking and second hand smoking have the same effects on people?" I changed my question because this project is making me think of new things and I want a broader question. I think that with this question, I can get a lot of information and learn a lot more then I would if I had kept my old question. I think this change is best for my project.

Chart

Question 1	Question 2	Question 3	Question 4	Question 5	Question 6	Question 7	Question 8	Question 9	Question 10
Smoking affects your health	Which age group do you think is more susceptible to second hand smoke	Do you feel that smoking is a problem?	Do you think that second hand smoke is as dangerous as just smoking?	About how many people do you think die every year from cancers and problems caused by second hand smoke?	Smoking can affect:	Do you smoke?	Smoking affects which one(s)?	Do you think knowing more about the effects of secondhand smoke would affect your decision to smoke?	Do you know anyone that has gotten sick or died because of smoke?
24 agree	10 said Infant-5 years old	18 people said yes	23 people said yes	1-10,000: 11	Family: 17	6 people said yes	Heart: 21	Yes: 19	Yes: 17
1 disagree	10 said 6-10 years old	7 people said no	2 people said no	10,000-20,000:6	Physical being: 17	19 people said no	Lungs: 25	No: 6	No: 8
	3 said 11-15 years old			20,000-30,000: 5	Health: 17		Brain: 19
	2 said 16-20 years old			30,000-40,000: 1	Emotions: 15		Throat: 22
				40,000-50,000: 2	Mental being: 13		Gums: 12
				50,000-60,000: 0

                                                



       

Second hand smoke harming your family

Smoking on a college campus

Questions

From this assignment, I want to learn about the effects of my issue. What age group is more susceptible to second hand smoke? What if you must change physically because of the effects of second hand smoke? Why does second hand smoke affect you emotionally? Should more be done to stop smoking around others while in public places? How does second hand smoke affect families financially? Will this affect generations to come? All of these questions affect everyone in some way. Smoking affects everyone whether they know it or not. I want to find the answer for each of these questions and become an expert by the end of this project. People think they know a lot about smoking but there is a lot more then you know about. I am going to find all of this information and educate others about the dangers of this horrible addiction.