The Experiences of South-Western Taiwanese Male Adolescents Controlling Their Smoking After Exposure to an Education Program

Tobacco use is the most preventable cause of chronic diseases andcancers worldwide. In south-western Taiwan, tobacco use has become one of the top riskbehaviors. Smoking in young people has been associated with alcohol addiction and drugabuse in later life; and most smokers start young. Initiation of cigarette smoking at anearly age leads to more life-years of tobacco use, makes quitting harder, and increasesthe risk for serious health consequences. How adolescent boys effectively control theirtobacco use is still uncertain. The article explores on the experience of 12 adolescentboys in south-western Taiwan controlling tobacco use as a result of participating in asmoking prevention education program. In addition to the use of interviews and focusgroups as the traditional method of data gathering, the lead author also included theuse of participants’ paintings as representations of the participants’ lived experienceof the phenomenon. The findings of the study suggest that adolescent boys with smokingexperience in Taiwan had the desire to control their smoking behavior after obtaininginformation through a local education program. In addition, they chose suitable methodsfor controlling their smoking based on the information that had beenprovided