Do young people really start smoking for reasons like this?

[Jo]

Concerning 'Harry Potter' smoking on stage:
The anti-smoking group ASH said Radcliffe's onstage cigarette was "regrettable." The group said it feared Radcliffe's status as a role model might encourage young people to start smoking.

source
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070227/ap_en_ot/theater_equus)

[Kristi]

I really think that there are enough resources out there for people to know what effects smoking has on them that thinking because someone in a movie does it would not make someone decide to start smoking. Especially since the play that he is doing it in is aimed towards adults and not the children who see him as a "role model" How many of the young people that look up to him that they are speaking of are going to see this play? And even if they do it all goes back to teaching the difference between what is acting/pretend and what is real.

[Victoria]

will it also make them develop a desire to walk around on stages in the nude?

[Beka]

Hurrrray- according to this line of thought i can now also blame Daniel Radcliffe for Jude's tendancy to run around the house nude- i knew someone other than Jude was responsible for his actions (dripping in sarcasm)

I find it pathetic the poor lad is being scapegoated on this one- he's a budding actor who by all critics accounts pulled off a blinding performance (ok... reading that back, nature of the play and all maybe not the best choice of phrase) Children see smoking everyday in their own families, in the street and yet suddenly because Radcliffe is seen as a "teen sensation" actor he is scapegoated for doing this in a play which i would be horrified to take my children to see, it's not a childrens play, it's never been billed as such and I'd be more worried about the "love" of horses my kids might think is normal from the play rather than a single cigarette! :lmao

ohhhh some of these people have nothing better to do with their time than try and blame the evils of the world on those thrust into the limelight who are actually achieving and doing well for themselves, why on earth they couldn't highlight what a good performance it was and what an amazingly difficult transition he's made to play a convincing role despite being seen as Harry by millions I'll never know

[gr8mommy]

No. Kids smoke because the people in their lives smoke. Parents smoking is the number one predictor of whether or not their kids will smoke.

I don't believe advertising encourages kids to smoke, either, though---I think it encourages kids who will smoke to get a certain brand, but a kid that isn't interested in smoking isn't going to be swayed.

[Desirae]

That's just silly. No, him smoking in a play is NOT going to make the world's youth to start smoking.

[Lori]

That's ridiculous. If anybody would start smoking because of that, then pretty much anything would get them to start smoking, and if it wasn't this, it would be something else. If that makes sense. I guess I mean that if a person is impressionable enough that they'll imitate the behavior of a character in a play, they'll probably imitate all sorts of behavior, and that's the problem, not what an actor is doing.

[Amy J]

it's all about peer pressure, that's all it is. If your best friend is smoking and you're in your early teens, you just tend to start the habit too.

[Lori]

I wanted to amend my "that's ridiculous." I still think it sounds ridiculous, but apparently valid research has shown that more exposure to likeable/positive characters smoking does make people more likely to smoke. But it is probably more of an unconscious process. At some level, it does make sense. If we think something looks stupid, we're not going to do it. If we think something looks cool, we're more likely. And, our ideas of what looks cool aren't something we choose consciously.

[Sam]

It is Dot cottons fault I smoke (Eastenders-UK soap) I grew up watching that show and made it seem cool.

Yep I love it,I no longer take responsibility for my habbit,it is all Dot cottons fault ;)

Daniel should be ashamed,doesn't he realize that because he was Harry he now has a duty to carry on in that role and keep on being a role model? How dare he branch out.

Seriously what is it with SOME parents? I don't expect actors/actresses etc etc to be a role model to my child,I do not think they have a duty to be good role models to my children because they are actors,that isn't there job.

Maybe there is some truth in it,but if a child is going to smoke because their idol lit up a ciggy then they are probably going to smoke regardless of that.

BTW I did not start smoking because of peer pressure,I wanted to try it and fully expected to hate it. Sadly I LOVED it,the first blast was just lovely. Most people hate smoking when they first start,but I seriously loved it.