Smoking in Films Influence Children
Feb. 12, 2007— -- According to a new survey, 81 percent of adults in the United States agree adolescents are more likely to smoke if they watch actors smoke in movies, and 70 percent support a new R-rating for any movies with on-screen tobacco imagery, unless the film clearly demonstrates the dangers of smoking.
The Social Climate Survey of Tobacco Control is an annual poll of public attitudes about tobacco control policies. The American Medical Association (AMA) Alliance, the 26,000 grassroots arm of the AMA, joined researchers from Mississippi State University's Social Science Research Center to make the announcement during the AMA's National Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C.
According to the report, public concern over the issue of tobacco imagery on screen has grown substantially over the past year:
"This research is our latest effort to bring national attention to the harmful effects that smoking in movies has on our youth," said AMA Alliance President Nita Maddox. "As a parent myself, I am equally as concerned as the parents we surveyed about children's exposure to smoking on screen."
AMA Alliance members have launched a national, grassroots parent-to-parent campaign to clear tobacco imagery from future movies rated G, PG, and PG-13 by calling on the Motion Picture Association of American and movie studios to implement voluntary solutions to reduce youth's exposure to movie smoking.
The policies and the initiative, Screen Out, have been endorsed by several national public health organizations including the AMA, AMA Alliance, American Heart Association and the American Legacy Foundation.
