Smoking - Top 10 Tips to stop your children smoking
If you have a teenager or even a younger child who has already started smoking them the chances are you will find it very difficult to get them to give up. Studies suggest that it is incredibly easy for anyone to become addicted to tobacco and teenagers are no different. Something like 80% of young smokers have said they would find it very difficult to give up smoking. Even a single cigarette will dramatically increase their chances of getting hooked.
Latest figures suggest that around a 25% of girls aged 15 smoke. The number is lower for boys at 16%.
Here are ten tips for trying to stop your children from smoking:
1. Do not smoke yourself
If you smoke yourself then you children are far more likely to take up smoking. The sooner you can stop the less chance there is that your children will start. Whether or not you smoke is likely to be the biggest determining factor in whether or not your children start smoking.
2. Start your campaign early
The earlier you start pointing out the downside of cigarettes the better. Most children have seen someone smoking well before they are five years old. As soon as they start to ask questions about cigarettes and why people smoke gently start to steer them away from ever wanting to smoke.
3. Help your children deal with peer pressure
As well as whether or not you smoke yourself another deciding factor will be whether or not their friends smoke. There is little you can do to stop their friends from smoking and trying to influence them. Work with them to make them feel they are strong enough to say no to friends.
4. Provide them with information about health effects
The health effects of smoking are well known, but it does no harm to go over them with your children. It is best to avoid turning a conversation about the health effects into a lecture and it may work best if you simply make information available to them to read and view. To start with you can find some useful links on the Ash website.
5. Show them videos on YouTube
Teenagers use YouTube to watch fun videos. In amongst the fun you can also find serious subjects tackled as well. There are videos that explain the effect smoking has on the body. Here are a couple of videos to get started with:
6. Explain differences that smoking makes
Aside from the major dangers to health there are also a number of ways in which it can affect the body. These include making hair loss more likely, causing tooth decay, reducing fertility, adding extra wrinkles, increasing the possibility of cataracts and increasing possible hearing loss.
More immediate effects can include a loss of performance at sports and increased chances of picking up coughs and chest infections.
7. Tell them what it's like to kiss someone who smokes
If you are a non smoker then kissing someone who smokes is not a particularly pleasant experience. Letting your child know this may make them think twice.
8. Explain how it will make them smell
Smokers have their own distinct smell. With it now being illegal to smoke in a variety of public places it is likely to make it easier to identify smokers by the way they smell.
9. Explain how it can change their appearance
Teenagers are very concerned about the way they look and their appearance in general. Talk to them about the way smoking can damage their teeth and their complexion.
10. Explain how much it will cost them
If anyone develops a smoking habit it will cost them a considerable sum of money over a lifetime. Coupled with the fact it is so hard to give up an established smoking habit it is likely to cost them dearly over the years ahead. There are plenty of other items teenagers can spend money on such as CDs (or music downloads) and clothes.
NOTE:
The health section of Parenting.co.uk is not to be used as a substitute for your GP; if your child is ill then seek the advice of a qualified doctor or other health professional without delay.
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