Clarifying the Role of Schools in Tendency or Lack of Tendency Toward Smoking among Teenage Boys (11-14) in Mashhad, Iran

BACKGROUND: Recent studies show that the prevalence of tobacco use among teens and students is increasing, and the initiation age of tobacco use has decreased. OBJECTIVES: The current research aimed to signify the role of schools in the process in which student teenage boys became smokers in 2012 in Mashhad. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The current study was part of a qualitative research conducted by content analysis method and purposive sampling, performing 35 in-depth interviews, and 2 focused group discussions. The participants in this research included teenagers, teachers, students` parents , psychologists, and experts in the field of fighting against tobacco use, those who either had the experience of exposure to cigarettes at school, or were well-informed persons about tobacco use.After performing each interview, the interview was transcribed, and analyzed before the next interview. The data were under continuous consideration and comparative analysis in order to achieve data saturation. RESULTS: After analysis and codification of data, four concept categories were achieved to clarify the role of schools in student smoking: 1) School purity or impurity to high-risk behaviors; 2) Directive or nondirective schools for controlling tobacco; 3) Preventive or predisposing schools for smoking behavior, and 4) Perceived positive outcomes from smoking at school. Each main category was divided into three subordinate themes. CONCLUSIONS: With regard to decrease of cigarette use initiation age and the great influence of schools on teenagers’ behavior, it is recommended to perform special screening programs based on the achieved themes in this research to reduce tobacco use. It is also suggested that school staff pay more attention to students’ communication networks and pressures that are imposed on a student for smoking cigarettes during the school time.