I don't think the posters are helping anyone. The statistics just tell me that a lot of people drink and smoke and a lot don't. 18% of kids smoking is kind of a lot, considering that less than 1/4 of the school is even old enough to legally buy cigarettes. I understand the reasons that people start smoking. The threat of cancer and all of the other negative effects are so far off that it doesn't really effect us now. I mean, people should realize that it can cause problems. But maybe they don't care. Our culture is all about instant gratification.
There are definitely steps that could be taken to convince people that smoking is really bad.
If smoking was portrayed more negatively, I think people would be discouraged from doing it. It would also help to focus on the negative effects that smoking can cause so that people think about cancer and stuff more while they are actually smoking, instead of just feeling that it is a cool thing to do.
