Essay

The smoking debate

By Kip A. Cates

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Debating is an important skill that all students should learn. I still remember seeing my first debate, back in elementary school. I was 10 years old.

The topic was "Smoking should be banned." The teacher appointed two teams -- one to argue that smoking was good and the other to argue that smoking was bad. The teams had one week to prepare.

Finally, the big day arrived! The anti-smoking team spoke first. They took the stage with confident smiles. They knew they had an easy job. Everybody knew that smoking was bad! Yet, it was clear they hadn't done much preparing. Their arguments were simplistic and repetitive. "Smoking isn't good for you," they said. "The reason is because it's bad. That's why you shouldn't smoke."

Next came the pro-smoking team. They took the stage with quiet determination. It was clear they'd done their homework. "Smoking is a major industry that supports society," they began. "The tax money from cigarette sales supports our country's economy. Thousands of workers depend on the tobacco industry. If we ban smoking, they'll become unemployed and their families will fall into poverty." They were very persuasive!

After the speeches, we took a vote to choose the best debaters. The pro-smoking team won hands down! The teacher protested feebly. "The pro-smoking team won," she admitted. "But smoking is bad. Please don't smoke!" That day, I learned a valuable lesson -- that persuasive talkers can be very convincing, whatever the topic!

For me, this debate was more than just a class activity. You see, my father was a doctor. He'd been following research on smoking and cancer for years in medical journals and conferences. Every week, he saw smokers dying of lung cancer in local hospitals. He knew the dangers of smoking were real and he wanted to warn his children in a dramatic way.

One evening, he called us into the living room for an important talk. In one hand, he held a cigarette. In the other was a match.

"Children," he said. "Soon, someone is going to invite you -- or dare you -- to smoke. They'll say it's cool. But they're wrong. Before you're tempted, I want you to smoke this cigarette, right here in front of me."

He lit the cigarette dramatically with the match. He passed it to us children, and made us inhale. All of us broke out coughing from the sickening feeling of the smoke in our noses and throats. "Is that cool?" he asked. We had to admit it wasn't. It was a very effective demonstration. None of us have ever smoked since.

According to the World Health Organization, tobacco kills 6 million people every year -- 600,000 die from second-hand smoke alone. May 31st each year is World No Tobacco Day. It's a good time to debate the pros and cons of smoking!

喫煙をめぐる議論

百害あって一利なしと言われるタバコをめぐる議論はさまざまだが、筆者は子どもの時に、医師だった父親からタバコに関してある効果的な教えを受け、以来一度もタバコは吸っていないという。

The Japan Times ST: May 30, 2014