Two Year Old Smoking Cigarette Sets Internet Alight
Posted by ashertrix , Thursday, May 27, 2010 8:41 PM
Move over, David After Dentist. The two-year-old smoking cigarettes is the Internet video sensation of the day.
It’s pretty scary to see a two-year-old smoking cigarettes like a pro. The image is so wrong it makes me want to shout at the screen.
Like most sensationally wrong things, though, this one is rare. There’s hardly an epidemic of toddler smokers out there. I’m not worried about my own two-year-old being offered her first cigarette by a delinquent preschooler at playgroup.
In ten years, though, I’ll have to deal with the much less sensational but more real dangers of my kids being pressured into smoking by peers. Most smokers start smoking in adolescence.
So while we’re all on the topic of kids and smoking, let’s talk about the more common phenomenon of older kids trying out cigarettes.
Smoking is on the decline here in the States, even as it continues to increase in Indonesia (where the smoking toddler lives). Twenty-five percent of Indonesian kids have tried smoking, and 3.2% are thought to be regular smokers. The numbers aren’t much better here: 22% of U.S. kids have tried smoking at least once by the end of 8th grade.
My kids will be bombarded with less child-centered cigarette advertising than I was as a kid, and I’m grateful for that. They’ll also see fewer smokers, and be exposed to less second hand smoke.
Hopefully, those factors will help them make better choices than I did about cigarettes. Here are some tips for parents to help their kids steer clear of smoking:
* Talk about it. Talking about smoking in a clear honest way will help your kids learn your values.
* Keep talking about it. Like most sensitive topics, this is one you’ll want to revisit over the years with age-appropriate information and dialog.
* Encourage healthy activities. Kids who are involved in sports or active in community activities that forbid smoking will be less likely to take it up themselves.
* Confront peer pressure. Acknowledge that friends may pressure your child to smoke, and try to give her tools to say no. Simply walking away can be extremely effective.
* Don’t smoke. This is so obvious it almost doesn’t need saying, but if you smoke your children are much more likely to.
How do you plan to keep smoking out of your child’s life?
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