Here's a troubling statistic: the CDC says one in five high schoolers smokes cigarettes. So how is the National Cancer Institute getting kids to kick the habit? Well - they created an app for that.
Dr. Paul Bradley says, "At one time it seemed to be getting a lot better, it does come and go in popularity, but we see an awful lot of teenagers and young adults smoking and starting to smoke."
Dr. Bradley says despite the abundance of knowledge available about the dangers of smoking, today's youngsters are still lighting up. He believes it's for a couple of reasons.
"You've got the social thing like, 'ooh I'm really cool if I smoke', and then you've got the real addiction, and of course the more they smoke the worse the addiction becomes," says Bradley.
The National Cancer Institute wants to stop this addiction, so they've created a mobile phone app to help do so. The smoke free text service sends encouraging alerts to teens wanting to break the habit.
Dr. Bradley believes this program and others like it are crucial. "There's great smoking cessation programs, anything with a constant reminder, anything that basically taps you on the soldier and says hey this is not good hey you can be strong."
But if you have a teenage son or daughter who smokes, Bradley says do not get discouraged. "Unfortunately, it's all up to the individual and not till that individual comes to the conclusion for their own reasons will they be able to quit."
And the American Lung Association says quitting is the single most important step a smoker can take, as 392,000 people die in the United States each year from tobacco caused-disease.
