The rise of smoking teenagers in Indonesia has increased in numbers over the years. This concerning phenomenon has garnered the attention of faculty members from the Health Science Faculty at Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus), Semarang.
One of those faculty members was Dr. Nurjanah, S.Km., M.Kes, an instructor from the Public Health Department. She revealed the primary factors of smoking teens from the age of 11 to 13. Through her research, Dr. Nurjanah highlighted that billboards and banners advertising cigarettes were the most contributing factor to this concerning phenomenon.
The results of her research were published in the form of a paper entitled ‘The Media Literacy Intervention to Reduce Intention to Smoke in Preadolescent.’ This paper successfully led Dr. Nurjanah to win third place in the best papers presentation category at the Ahla International Conference last October.
According to Dr. Nurjanah, it is important for kids to have self-protection about ‘never intending to smoke.’ Moreover, regulations concerning cigarettes in Indonesia are still arguably not impactful enough, as there are many billboards and banners advertising cigarettes scattered around many parts of cities.
“Not only are cigarettes being advertised on billboards and banners, they are also often advertised on the internet and TV. This advertisement is only found in Indonesia out of all countries in the Pacific Asia,” she uttered.
Dr. Nurjanah’s research gave an intervention to children 11 to 13 years of age so that they can be aware that cigarette advertisements encouraged them to smoke, even though those advertisements did not directly condone the act of smoking.
The paper was presented in various elementary schools within Semarang. In addition, . critical thinking must also be instilled in students of these elementary schools.
“Children must be critical of every exposure to cigarettes, and parents must also take part in educating their children so they are not interested in smoking,” she explained. (Humas Udinus/Alex. Foto: Humas Udinus)
