Hot Topic
Keep Your Kid Smoke-Free
Every day, more than 3,500 kids try their first cigarette. Most parents know the dangers of smoking (even if they're smokers themselves), and hope their kids don't pick up the habit. But it's time to do more than just hope - there are things parents can do to help their children avoid cigarettes.
Did you know?
These statistics are from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:
-Right now, one in five high school students smoke, while experimentation can start as early as fourth grade.
-Each day, another 1,000 kids, under 18 years of age, become new regular, daily smokers.
-That is more than 400,000 new underage daily smokers each year - and roughly one-third of them will eventually die prematurely from smoking-caused disease.
-The U.S. cigarette companies spend almost $36 million per day marketing their products, and they rely on youth smokers to replace their adult customers who quit or die.
So What Can Parents Do?
These tips are also from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:
-If you don't smoke, don't start! If you do smoke, quit! (For help quitting, go to http://tobaccofreekids.org/research/webresources/quitting.shtml). Research shows that children who have a parent who smokes are more likely to smoke and to be heavier smokers at young ages. When parents quit smoking, their children become less likely to start smoking and more likely to quit if they already smoke.
-If you smoke, share your struggles to quit with your children. Kids greatly underestimate how difficult it is to quit smoking. Showing how hard it is to quit (and making sure quitting doesn't look easy) can help eliminate this misperception. Continuing to try to quit, despite the difficulties, also
sends a strong anti-smoking message.
-Maintain a smoke-free home. A smoke-free home makes children less likely to smoke, even if their parents smoke. By not allowing anyone to smoke in their homes, parents not only make smoking less convenient for their kids but also make a powerful statement that they believe smoking is undesirable.
-Tell your kids that you don't want them to smoke and will be disappointed if they do. Parental attitudes, opinions, and feelings about their kids' smoking status greatly influence whether or not kids will smoke, even when the parents smoke.
-Make sure your kids have the facts they need. By making sure that their kids know how harmful smoking is, parents can help their kids to develop a firm, negative perception or attitude about smoking practices and their consequences, and kids with such negative perceptions or attitudes are less likely to smoke.
-Emphasize the immediate health effects. Most teenagers wrongly believe that smoking will have no direct effect on their health until they reach middle age. But smoking causes many immediate or near-term effects on health, including persistent coughs, respiratory problems, a greater susceptibility to illness, and decreased physical performance.
-Emphasize the effects of smoking on physical appearance. Cigarette ads create the image that smoking is sexy and attractive; and kids identify improving self-image as a reason for smoking. But smoking actually causes yellow teeth, bad breath, smelly clothes, and more severe and early facial wrinkles.
-Destroy the myth that everybody smokes. Many kids overestimate the amount of smoking among their peers and such overestimation is among the strongest predictors of smoking initiation. For example, teens believe that 67 percent of adults smoke and that 54 percent of teens are current smokers, but less than 25 percent of adults and 17 percent of all teens actually do.
For even more tips and resources, download this guide for parents.
March 25, 2009 is Kick Butts Day, a national campaign to keep kids tobacco free. The Coastal Health District is sponsoring an event which may provide a great opportunity to talk to your kids about smoking.
A "Kick Butts Graffiti/Memorial Wall" will be set up outside of Walmart at Montgomery Crossroads from 5:00-7:00PM on Wednesday, March 25th. People are invited to write or draw special messages remembering a loved one, pledges to quit or help support a family member to quit, displays of support for the proposed $1 State cigarette tax or simply signatures, representing participation in Kick Butts Day.
Once participants have made their mark, they will receive a Kick Butts Day bracelet, which will guarantee a discount at the Subway located inside Walmart from 5:00-Closing.