By Kelsey Hamilton

A current teacher here at Atlantic High School has broken a habit most people can’t. Sheila Hayden has not smoked a cigarette for over ten months. According to the Centers for Disease Control, each day more than 3,800 persons younger than 18 years of age smoke their first cigarette. Nineteen percent of high school students have smoked a cigarette within the past month. Hayden said that she started smoking at age 20 and it became a part of her life. “I tried to cover up the smell with breath spray, perfume, and washing my hands,” she said.

Hayden was a smoker for 27 years. Almost 69 percent of current smokers say they want to quit. Approximately 52 percent of smokers attempted to quit within the past year. Only six percent of smokers that have attempted to quit each year are successful. This makes Hayden one of the mighty few.

Hayden said her hardest month was the first physically because she was so used to the habit. She said that the third month was the most difficult mentally. By the eighth month, she decided that she had made it this far and started being really proud of herself.

She said she mostly smoked after meals, while driving, and when she was stressed. Hayden’s parents both smoked, but her sisters did not.  Hayden said that she did double-think her choice about smoking when she saw things like the commercials or articles about how many chemicals were in cigarettes. She knew what she was doing, she said, but smoking just took control.

Even people who don’t smoke can be affected by people smoking around them. Junior Raeann Laehle has parents that smoke, and said that it bothers her because of the smell. She also mentioned that she has grown up around it. Scientific evidence indicates that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Breathing even a little secondhand smoke can be harmful to your health. The Surgeon General estimates that living with a smoker increases a non-smoker’s chances of developing lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent.

Hayden said that since making the change to stop smoking, she has noticed that she can breathe a lot better, and she gets more work done. On the down side, she did gain 25 pounds by quitting. “I was never a sick person, and when I smoked, my sickness was worse and lasted longer.” Over 400,000 people die each year from smoking related illnesses. Nearly 50,000 nonsmokers die annually from secondhand smoke exposure. Hayden said that she can still smell a smoker from a mile away, but the craving to smoke is gone. “You will quit when you are ready.”