16 Ways To Discourage Your Child From Smoking

On average, youths who smoke have their first cigarette at the age of thirteen. This means that you need to make your views about smoking clear to your child from an early age.

The list below offers strategies to deter your child from taking up this habit:

1. Educate yourself about the health effects of tobacco so you can educate your child.

2. Let your child know that you find smoking objectionable, but do not be dictatorial in your insistence that he not smoke. Rather, talk with him about the risks of smoking, and then tell him that he is a responsible person and you trust he will make a wise decision.

3. Set a good example. Children with parents who smoke are more likely to smoke themselves. If you smoke, try to quit. If you are unable or unwilling, try to avoid smoking in your child's presence.

Let him know that quitting smoking is difficult and, if true, that you regret having started. Don't leave cigarettes around the house and, of course, don't offer him any.

4. Consider prohibiting smoking in your home and car. This sends a strong message that you find smoking unacceptable and that you have a concern for the impact of secondhand smoke.

5. Talk to your child at an early age about the hazards of smoking and reinforce this message during the middle and high school years. Kids may begin experimenting with smoking as early as eleven.

Let him know about the appearance problems associated with smoking, including bad breath, stained teeth, yellowed fingers, smelly clothes and hair, lessened stamina, decreased athletic performance, and facial wrinkles.

He is likely to be more impressed with these cosmetic concerns than the serious physical consequences of smoking.

6. If you smoke, be careful about sharing the serious physical problems associated with smoking with your child, especially if he is young, lest he conclude that you are going to die prematurely.

7. Appeal to your child's desire for independence and control by telling him that nicotine is highly addictive so that once he starts smoking, he may find that he cannot stop.

8. Help your child learn how to resist peer pressure to smoke. If he is receptive, try role-playing situations where he is offered cigarettes and suggest responses he can give to his peers.

9. Let your child know that tobacco alternatives such as smokeless tobacco, cigars, and low-tar and additive-free cigarettes are not free of risk. All tobacco products contain nicotine.

10. Do not let your child play with candy cigarettes. They may convey the message that cigarettes are pleasurable.

11. Talk with your child about the price of smoking. Let him know that smoking costs on average about $700 a year. Give him some examples of what he could do with that money instead.

12. Talk with your older children about how they are role models and that their smoking may influence their siblings to start.

13. Discuss tobacco advertising with your child. Help him appreciate how tobacco companies target children with their ads by making it seem as if smoking is "cool" and everybody does it.

Similarly, talk with him about how movies and magazines falsely depict smoking as a glamorous and sophisticated activity.

14. Find out if the health curriculum at your child's school has an anti-smoking component. If not, suggest that it be included.

15. Advocate for your child's school to make school events such as dances and sporting events tobacco-free.

16. Try to go to restaurants that are completely nonsmoking. This will let your child know that you are serious about your objections to smoking.