the diary and history sections.
other leaflets - which was a positive feature for some and problematic for others.
One boy (14) described it enthusiastically as being "full of stuff". However, some
thought this was a fault, and found the booklet"too busy" (and assumed it also
accounted for the small text). A few thought they knew everything in it already
and were disappointed that there was no new information, or "gory pictures".
improved. Those that liked its"busyness" (the majority) did not want any changes.
Those that thought there was too much information in it wanted more space, or
larger text though, interestingly, none of them suggested cutting any of it out, just
making it bigger. (On the other hand, several respondents praised its "neat", small
size - which they thought made it more personal/private.)
views are about smoking. Though the majority wanted to stop smoking (at some
time) they were generally pessimistic about their own, and their friends, likely
success in quitting. Though they wanted new and novel approaches to help them
quit, their own suggestions for what would help teenagers were, in the main,
pedestrian and authoritarian ("state simply and clearly the consequences of
smoking". "reduce the amount of money they get so they cannot afford it"). In
fact, most of their suggestions were just those that they had already said would
have no impact on them at all. A few picked up on the idea of rewarding
themselves for success, and realised they'd have the money to do it with.
using the Internet, though it is to be expected that numbers of users will grow
rapidly. This perhaps limited their ideas as to what a teenage cessation website
could be like. Their views were similar to their views about the booklet. Most
thought it should be colourful and attractive with plenty of activities, and several
said they thought everything that was in I Quit! should also be on line. Quite a
number had picked up on the interactive nature of the internet and wanted a
means of swapping"real-life" stories, advice and progress with others. Apart from
this, their inclinations tended towards "shock-horror", with requests for
"frightening facts" and "gory" pictures.