Cigarettes and Tobacco News

Mar 19, 2007 -- JEFF RUSHBY, SABIS International: I think this is a ridiculous proposition. We are talking about movies where the ratings have been getting more and more slack as the years go on. I can remember five or 10 years ago I would never think of hearing some of the language in PG movies that I do now. Now we are talking about banning smoking over the language. People see people smoking all the time. Smoking is a very common thing. I don't think seeing an actor doing that is going to change that influence. I think parents and relatives have more of an influence than actors do.

PERRY NOWELL, Mount Caramel: We should rate movies on the graphics and language and not concentrate on smoking. Some people I know smoke. Does that mean I don't get to see them?

PAIGE NOWELL, Putnam Vocational: I don't think it is necessary to rate a movie on smoking. As long as kids know not to do it, they shouldn't follow what they see in movies anyway.

SHEILA FALLON, Mater Dolorosa: Rating movies "R' because of smoking in them does not make sense. Kids see it every day on the street and maybe some family members or relatives do. I don't agree with it. WARREN SMITH, St. Patrick's, Chicopee: I don't think smoking should have anything to do with the rating. You should concentrate more on the violence. Violence is more of an influence.

MARY JO PHAM, SABIS International: Rating movies "R" because there is smoking involved is ridiculous. The notion that a scene actor could influence a young person or any person to pick up a cigarette and start smoking shows how confused the society we are living in is. If you really want to stop smoking, if you really care about the health of young people and the health of America, you would actually stopping worrying about smoking in the movie and do something about in legislatively. Do something about it in schools. Do something about it directly that would answer the problem of young people becoming smokers. Banning smoking in movies or rating them "R" is not going to help people stay healthy. It is just another form of censorship. If you really care about taking care of other people, you need to do it through health outreach, through education, through awareness but you don't do by rating movies "R" because there are cigarettes.

MARK VOLAIN, Central High: It is preposterous to rate a movie "R" because it has a cigarette. I don't see that many movies these days that have smoking in them. The last one I can think of is the Oscar winner, "The Departed." The only people in that were the mob bosses. So if you are watching them smoke and that is what is causing you to smoke, then there is something wrong with you and not the movies.

PAYTON SHUBRICK, New Leadership Charter: I don't think that movies in which there is smoking should be rated "R." If I child is watching a movie where there is smoking, then the parent should have enough knowledge to say, "You know better than to do that, right?" It is the parent's responsibility to know what their child is doing because that is why they are the parent.

ELIZABETH MBOYA, New Leadership Charter: There are two sides to this though because teens these days do want to be like a certain actor. So if the actor is smoking, they are going to want to be doing what the actor is doing. This is a bad example for the people who are watching.

ALEXSANDRIA WATTS, Sci-Tech: Kids have their own minds, especially teenagers. They will do what they want to do whether they see it on TV or in the movies or watching music videos. So rating it "R" because someone is smoking, is not going to stop anyone from doing anything. Also, smoking is a tiny little issue compared to violence and drugs. Also, you could to the movies to see something different from your everyday life.

ERIN NICHOLS, Cathedral High: Kids are going to smoke and movies don't have an effect on this. You are going to do, what you are going to do.

MIRIAM MBOYA, New Leadership Charter: I think they should rate the movies with smoking or have a warning or they should charge the actors and actresses a certain amount to help prevent young people from smoking. You can't prevent kids from watching the movies but you can prevent them from starting to smoke. It also depends whether it is a movie for entertainment or a movie based in real life. A historical movie should show the truth and not be rated because of that.

DEVANTE McKOY, New Leadership Charter: They should be rated "R" because if you see any adults in the movie who smoke and a child under 18 sit and watches it, they are going to think it is cool to start smoking and that leads to a cancer-causing habit. We should stop that habit and rate these movies "R." It gives you a shot at trying to stop someone from smoking. It is a bad habit. If that doesn't work, it is up to them.

GINA ACCORSI, Cathedral High: I can see why people would think this is a good idea in theory. Whoever came up with the idea, their intentions are good but the goal here is not to hide our kids from what is in the real world. Making sure don't watch movies that involve smoking is kind of like shielding them from reality. They are going to see smoking wherever they go. Why would you rate a kid movie "R" just because of smoking. Santa Claus smokes a corn cob pipe. Are kids not going to be able to see holiday favorites anymore? It seems kind of silly. As Mary Jo and others have said, it is such a better idea to put your efforts into advertisements or programs to get the idea out there that smoke is bad instead of depraving them of good movies just because characters are smoking. MARK: This is all because of the corrupt pop culture. Honestly, if they are going to go to the extreme of rating movies "R" because there are cigarettes in it, there should be aptitude tests to see if people can buy a certain CD.

KAITYLN SCHROYER, Lonmgeadow High: Like Mark said, how many movies have smoking in them nowadays? Teens make their own decisions and movies should not be able to influence kids. We know what is right.

INGRID MESSBAUER, MacDuffie: I don't see why seeing an actor smoke would ever influence a teen to smoke. In the real world around them, they see so many other people around them with no future, just hanging around and smoking. Quite frankly, I think there are more people hanging around who practically have no future smoking on street corners, then there are actors in movies smoking.

VIET TRANG, Springfield Central High: Gina is completely right and this question is way too broad to answer. It is one thing if your grandfather is smoking a pipe in the movie but if you are doing a line (of cocaine) off a stripper's chest, that is a whole other thing.

KEVIN LEMPKE, Blessed Sacrament, Holyoke: I think the directors would take the smoking out of the movies rather than have an "R" rating, although I think they would keep Santa and grandpa with their pipes.

SOMMER MAHONEY, St. John the Baptist, Ludlow: I think it depends. If you just see a couple of people smoking in the movie, that is OK. I don't think that is going to do enough damage to influence kids to smoke. But if the main character smokes a lot and glamorize smoking, then that could be a bit of an influence. I don't think it should be rated R but maybe go up a rating to "PG-13."

MICHAEL GONCALVES, Ludlow High: Making movies "R" purely for smoking is outlandish because if you don't see it in a movie, you are going to see it on TV, if not TV, with your friends and if not with your friends, possibly with a parent or family member. People see R-rated movies whether or not they are supposed to and this includes 10 year olds. It is not like it is going to censor it. Students should know the facts. They already do DARE programs. It is up to the student to judge whether or no they are going to smoke. They are going to do it for their own reasons. People don't always smoke because a celebrity does it. They do it because they want to relief stress or they think it is cool. Making a movie R is not going to stop someone from smoking. GINA: Smoking and drugs are completely different. Smoking is addictive like a drug, but cigarettes are legal to buy if you are over 18. Drugs are illegal and it is hard to acquire them at young age. So it is really up to the parents in this case to reinforce the importance of staying away from these two substances even though they are different.

MARY ZAGULA, Cathedral: I agree with the consensus that this is a ridiculous idea. There is also the fact that it could be a really good movie but people under 18 wouldn't be able to see it. KATHERINE SACCO, Suffied (Conn.) Academy: I understand where the idea is coming from that seeing smoking in a movie influences you. In the movie, "Grease," where Sandra Dee at the end becomes popular and she starts smoking. But I think the idea of rating movies R with smoking is like saying you have to close your eyes when you are walking on the street and see someone smoking. People know it is not a healthy thing to do but it is a part of our life. If anything, movies with smoking could be positive because they could evoke discussion. It would be a reason for a parent to talk to a kid and say, "See this person smoking. It is not a good idea. You shouldn't be like that." I don't think it is fair to rate movies "R" because they have smoking.

EMILY WACKERBARTH, Powder Hill Middle, Southwick: I don't really think it is necessary to rate a movie with smoking "R." Smoking is everywhere you go. You can walk outside your house and see people smoking. Also, if parents don't want their kids to see a movie with smoking in it, then it is simple - don't let them watch it.

PAUL ACCORSI, JR., Our Lady of Hope: Rating a movie R because of the smoking is ridiculous. Like others have said, when you go out into the real world, you see people smoking all the time. You are sheltering them from what is real. JEFF: It is very important to remember that the ratings "G," "PG," "PG-13" and "R" are just advisories and not preventatives. I have gone to see many R rated movies lately and there have been five-year-olds there. So an R-rated movie is not going to stop them from seeing it. It is just an advisory. Plus, I have seen R-rated movies with the common thread of smoking but no PG-13 movies with smoking so maybe this has already been done and it is a moot point. MARK: For something to be rated R, it usually has drug content, sex, violence, something like that. If we put smoking in that category, and I know it is terrible and bad for your health, but I don't think it is the same as violence and people getting their heads chopped off. What's next? Oh, he has a gun, it should be rated R? INGRID: Once they decided smoking has to be rated R, it opens the floodgates for other things to be rated R. That will lead to censorship and take away all artistic freedom and freedom of speech in movies. You have to think what this could lead to. illustration by JACOB ZUCCO, South Hadley High