The objective of this work was to estimate the prevalence of cigarette smoking among
teens, to analyze the attitudes and beliefs of such students regarding smoking and to study the
impact of the socioeconomic standard on the development of such habit. The studied sample
included students from a secondary school (n=1482) and a technical school (n=1694). An
anonymous closed, self administered questionnaire was used for the collection of data. Data were
expressed as mean+SD or number (percentage). The prevalence of smoking behavior among
secondary school students (22.46%) was significantly less (P<O.05) compared to that among their
technical school counterparts (43.91 %). A significantly greater percentage (P<O.OOI) of fathers of
technical school students were found to be illiterate (31. 7%) as opposed to those of secondary
school students and conversely, a significantly higher percentage of fathers of secondary school
students have a university (18.9%) or higher (14.1 %) education (P<O.05) compared to fathers of
technical school students. The main source of the first cigarette for students in both groups was
from friends reflecting the influence of close friends on the behavior of each other. The overall
findings of the student's knowledge about harmful effect of smoking indicates that a considerable
percentage of students in both groups believe that smoking is harmful in certain ways.
Surprisingly however, a considerable percentage of students in both groups have many wrong
beliefs about smoking. In conclusion, in view of the data retrieved from the present work, it seems
that both familial and cultural factors playa major role in the prevalence of smoking in this age
group. Since the familial aspect is not really amenable to amendment, a lot of effort has to be
directed towards changing the cultural ones in order to increase the awareness and change the
beliefs of such students regarding a lot of bad habits, among them, smoking is one. This can be
achieved via media-directed campaigns, anti smoking leagues, and school programs. The role of
the school health nurse should be changed and extended to promote student's health.