|
Tips for Parents
at the North East Digital Village
- Don't assume kids will learn to be smoke-free at school - they may be educated about the health risks, but kids decide whether or not to smoke for emotional reasons.
- Let them know how you feel about smoking - kids are more comfortable knowing that there are boundaries, and they can't know the rules unless you tell them.
- Kids do listen - they may feel a need to rebel at first - but they will value the message, especially coming from you.
- Make an emotional appeal - telling them how hurt or disappointed you would be by their smoking has more impact than reasoning with them about the health dangers.
- Know that peer pressure is often used as an excuse for smoking - it may provide an opportunity to start, but kids continue to smoke for individual reasons.
- Be a good role model - if you smoke, explain that you know it's a bad habit and ask them to help you quit.
- Limit their ability to buy cigarettes - if necessary, cut all sources of income so they can't buy tobacco. This may mean fixing a lunch instead of giving them lunch money.
- Have extended family support to keep kids smoke-free - often older brothers or sisters or other relatives introduce them to smoking.
- Don't believe that smoking is safer than "something else" most kids are at real and greater risk from smoking than from other dangers.
- It's never too late to intervene - kids are flexible, they can change for the right reasons and you can make a difference.
This information is provided as a public service by GlaxoSmithKline, the marketers of the stop smoking aids Nicorette nicotine gum and NicoDerm CQ nicotine patch, and by the American Cancer Society. For more information about quitting smoking, call the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345.
_/\_TO THE TOP
|
