ABUSE MAGAZINE
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• Emphasize what kids do right rather
than wrong. Self-confidence is a child’s
best protection against peer pressure.
• Uncover what appeals to
your child about smoking and
talk about it honestly.
• Encourage kids to walk away
from friends who don’t respect
their reasons for not smoking.
• Many times, kids aren’t able to
appreciate how their current
behaviors can affect their future
health. So talk about the immediate
downsides to smoking: less money to
spend on other pursuits, shortness
of breath, bad breath, yellow
teeth, and smelly clothes.
• Explain how much smoking governs
the daily life of kids who start doing
it. How do they afford the cigarettes?
How do they have money to pay
for other things they want? How
does it affect their friendships?
• Establish firm rules that exclude
smoking and chewing tobacco from
your house and explain why: Smokers
smell bad, look bad, and feel bad,
and it’s bad for everyone’s health.
What to Watch For
If you smell smoke on your child’s clothing, try not to overreact. Ask about it first
— maybe he or she has been hanging around
with friends who smoke or just tried one cigarette. Many kids do try a cigarette at one
time or another but don’t go on to become
regular smokers.
Additional signs of tobacco use include:
• coughing
• throat irritation
• hoarseness
• bad breath
• decreased athletic performance
• greater susceptibility to colds
• stained teeth and clothing (also
signs of chewing tobacco use)
• shortness of breath
Getting Through to Kids
Sometimes even the best foundation isn’t
enough to stop kids from experimenting with
tobacco. It may be tempting to get angry,
but it’s more productive to focus on communicating with your child.
Here are some tips that may help:
• Resist lecturing or turning your
advice into a sermon.
• Stick to the smoking rules you’ve
set up, and don’t let a child smoke
at home just to keep the peace.
• If you hear, “I can quit any time I
want,” ask your child to show you
by quitting cold turkey for a week.
• Try not to nag. Ultimately, quitting
is the smoker’s decision.
• Help your son or daughter develop a
quitting plan and offer information
and resources, and reinforce the
decision to quit with praise.
• Stress the natural rewards that
come with quitting: freedom
from addiction, improved fitness,
better athletic performance,
and improved appearance.
• Encourage a meeting with your
doctor, who can be supportive
and may have treatment plans.
If You Smoke
Kids are quick to observe any contradiction
between what their parents say and what
they do. Despite what you might think, most
kids say that the adult whom they most want
to be like when they grow up is a parent.
“We are pr