Smoking amongst Pakistani Youth - A product of frustration or peer pressure?

I believe that the Pakistani youth is very uniform. Be it good or bad habits, you will see them all across a particular strata of the Pakistani youth society. This made me wonder whether the Pakistani youth succumbs to an unusually large extent to Peer Pressure. Afterall, if you look at the number of guys smoking in colleges in Pakistan, you will notice that it is unusually high. In the developed world, smoking is almost considered 'disgusting', especially amongst the educated people who know about its health risks. However, if you notice in Pakistan, almost every 'popular' person (especially males)on campus smokes, and that also proudly in public places. I believe one of the reasons why smoking is become so widespread is because the youth is very frustrated. I've heard a lot of people smoking likea chimney saying that they are very stressed out and smoking helps them. It is also sad that our society never brings out the Islamic view on smoking, because its inconvenient because if not the person,one of his/her loved one smokes. Most religious scholars around the world agree that smoking is Makrooh.

Another popular myth seen amongst the youth is that sheesha is 1.Halal 2. Not addictive 3. Harmless! (trust me I’ve heard a lot ofpeople say there’s no harm smoking sheesha!). Firstly, most scholars agree that sheesha is Makrooh to say the least and even though it might not be as addictive as smoking, all my friends who smoke sheesha say that it is addictive. And to the last point, some of you might be surprised to know that SMOKING SHEESHA IS VERY HARMFUL – a 45 minute session of sheesha is like smoking a pack of cigarettes.

Political and Economic Environment of Pakistan: Its repercussions on the youth.

This is probably the scariest point in Pakistan’s history. Threatened with rampant terrorism and being engulfed by the world economic recession, Pakistan’s future seems bleak for those that like to stick to reality. The youth, especially those that are attending college and will soon be looking for jobs are all reacting differently to this situation.

There are those who believe that no matter what, they can never leave their country and are hopeful that things are going to get better soon. They cannot stand pessimism and treat those who try to give them a ‘reality check’ as traitors to the nation. They believe, that one day they themselves will be the ones that will become the change they want to see in the nation.

However, there are others that take things the opposite way. These are usually people who have lived a significant part of their lives abroad. They are sometimes arrogant, as can be seen by their all-knowing looks as they quote economic indicators and CIA predictions. Indeed, they have no shame in using phrases such as “the country is going down the drain”, or “there won’t be a Pakistan soon.”

As the youth is said to be future of the country, I am puzzled by what the future of my country holds as I look around. Will the educated use their education for an exit strategy to leave the country? Or will they use their education towards not only investing and working to make a better Pakistan, but to improve its international image? As for me, I like to believe that while accepting the fact that Pakistan is in bad shape, I know that there is a lot of hope. After all, the Germans had to carry a cart full of cash to buy a loaf of bread, just to realize that the price had increased by the time they reached there! If they can survive, so can we – it only depends on our nationalism.