We confuse teenagers with silly warnings

THE ORANGE GROVE: The Issue: At times we treat teenagers as nearadults
and at times we treat them like small children.

Politicians often do the silliest things. However, state Senator John
Burton, DSan Francisco, has one of the most foolish ideas to come around
in quite some time. In order to find some way to associate himself with
this political season's most popular cause, Burton wants tobacco warnings
shown before movies, similar to those found on cigarette packaging and
advertising.

I've mentioned Burton's plan to several people, all of whom reacted with
the same exasperated look and comment: "Doesn't this guy have a better
things to do?"

Interestingly, this may be the best argument yet for the return to the
parttime legislature. If this is how senators are spending their time on
our dime let's keep them at home half the year so they can work for a
living.

According to Burton, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
"Hollywood's increasingly common depictions of characters smoking onscreen
sends kids an entirely dangerous message that it's cool to smoke." This
isn't just idle chat over drinks for Burton. This week he's scheduled a
hearing at the offices of the Screen Actor's Guild in order to put pressure
on film makers to "stop promoting tobacco use."

Burton's premise, that popular movie actors who smoke on screen influence
teenagers, may be correct. It doesn't follow, though, that warnings shown
prior to films will decrease teen smoking. In fact, warnings just might
increase teen smoking.

Consider the "knowitall teenager" (that covers just about all of them!),
smugly smirking in reaction to a tobacco warning shown prior to a typical
popular movie containing the improper use of a handgun, a car chase scene,
binge drinking, drug taking, frivolous spending, felonious crime and casual
sex. What's the teenager to think? It's perfectly safe to do all these
things, as long as I don't smoke! Of course not. But the teenager may
think: Adults have lost all sense of reality regarding smoking. They've
exaggerated its danger so much that I don't know what to think about it any
more. However, obviously, more than anything, adults don't want me to try
it, and I'm sick of listening to adults so I'm going to try it and come to
my own opinion about it.

Does Senator Burton really think that a warning prior to a film will tell a
teenager something they don't already know? With school programs such as
DARE and multimillion commercial campaigns, every teenager has heard the
message that smoking is hazardous to their health. One more warning label
won't help.

Our culture has become infatuated with warning labels. What began as a good
idea, for such things as medicine and, yes, cigarettes, is getting out of
hand. We now have so many warning labels that we ignore most of them. It's
easy to ignore printed labels, such as the ones telling us not to drink
liquid bleach. They don't take much of our time, and quite often they're
humorous. Plus, they give us one more reason to hate lawyers.

A warning prior to a movie, though, does infringe on our time. More
importantly, it infringes on our pursuit of happiness. Or, more precisely,
our pursuit to escape, for just a couple hours, from everyday concerns,
such as the deteriorating health of our grandparents due to smoking or the
worry that our children may be concealing a smoking habit.

Since so many behaviors in movies are dangerous, it's inevitable that
smoking warnings prior to a film will proliferate into a multitude of other
admonitions. Frankly, many of the behaviors that frequently occur in films
are much more harmful than smoking. In particular, alcohol abuse is more
prevalent, more widely accepted and a subject of greater peer pressure.
Excessive drinking is also more harmful to others than smoking. It's not
hard to imagine spending several minutes watching warnings prior to movies,
as if the litany of ads and credits aren't enough.

We should take a close look at how, as a culture (or "village," as our
First Lady would say), youth are transitioned into adulthood. More than
ever, actions are being taken solely out of concern for the supposed
stupidity and naivete of children. We've added television ratings. The
federal government attempted save for the fact that the Supreme Court can
read the Firs Amendment to censor the Internet. Books are banned in high
school libraries. There are warning labels on music, and in some cases,
popular music is edited before being sold by major retailers. Drivers'
licenses restrict responsible teenagers from transporting their friends
and younger siblings.

Ironically, there is also a popular movement to treat minors who commit
felonies as adults. We can't seem to decide. Is a 17yearold practically a
responsible adult or dumb little kid? How can they be complete idiots one
day needing to be constantly reminded of that which they know so well
and be treated as capable citizens the day they turn 18?

In reality, adulthood is something that one grows into slowly. If someone
is mature enough to see a movie for mature audiences, then they don't need
a warning label reminding them that smoking is harmful to their health.