This post was sponsored by Tobacco Free New York State as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. All opinions expressed in my post are my own.
I smoked my first cigarette at age 12. I was on a field trip and some older girls were going behind the building to smoke. I wanted to be cool too, so I followed. Growing up, both my parents smoked, as did many other adult family members. In my head, smoking made me seem more grown up, so why not try it? I took maybe two drags of the cigarette before I almost coughed my lungs up, and even though it didn’t taste or feel good, this was the first of many cigarettes I smoked throughout my life. Now, you might think that your 12 year old would never reach for a cigarette, but did you know that the average age of a new smoker in New York is just 13?
I smoked though much of my teens and early 20s and finally quit when I found out I was pregnant with Alex. Luckily, I never picked up the habit again. Since Alex was old enough to ask what a cigarette was, I have talked to him about the dangers of smoking and how even though some of his favorite family members smoke, it is not a good habit to pick up. He is known to go off into a mini rant explaining to family members why they should quit smoking, which I bet they really enjoy.
Keeping an open dialogue with your children about the dangers of smoking is essential. Tobacco companies are working hard to entice kids into smoking. These companies spend billions of dollars to put their products in front of our kids in stores, and the more kids see tobacco, the more likely they are to start smoking. If you live in NYC, you can’t walk into your bodega or corner store without having a huge section of multicolored cigarette packs staring you in the face. If you feel that your children have seen enough tobacco, sign the Tobacco Free NYC petition to have tobacco advertising removed from store. So how do you start the conversation?
- Start young. Even young children may ask about cigarettes if they see someone smoking. Take this as an opportunity to start the conversation. Explain that some people chose to start smoking, but then have a really hard time stopping. Tell them how bad it is for them and how it can make them sick. Make the conversation age appropriate, but never pass up a teaching moments for fear that a child is too young.
- Health effects. For older kids, you can talk about the negative health effects that smoking can cause. Smoking harms nearly every organ in the human body and kills almost 500,000 people a year in the US. Smoking can lead to cancer, emphysema, hearth disease and stroke, just to name a few. You can also look for pictures online that show what a smoker’s lungs look like. Warning: it’s not pretty.
- Addiction. Picking up smoking is easy, but quitting is not. Let your kids know that even if they start smoking socially, they may end up addicted and have a hard time quitting. That is why it is not worth starting.
- Cost. Sometimes health effects will not faze children because they can’t imagine that they won’t be young and healthy forever. However, for kids with a limited allowance or for teens who are working, the price tag of cigarettes may be a good deterrent. I know that I do not want to spend $15 of my hard earned money on cigarettes.
- Peer Pressure. Peer pressure is real. (Hey, it even worked one me!) Talk to your children about how to say no when their friends are pressuring them to start smoking. Come up with and practice responses that kids can give when pressured and explain that smoking doesn’t make you more grown up or cool. Let them know that even thought it may seem like the end of the world now if other kids are making fun of them, but in the grand scheme of things, smoking is never worth it.
Don’t forget to sign the Tobacco Free NYS petition to get tobacco advertising removed from stores. For more tips and resources visit Tobacco Free NYS at:
- Tobacco Free New York State Site: http://www.tobaccofreenys.org/
- Tobacco Free New York State Facebook: http://lwww.facebook.com/tobaccofreenys
- Tobacco Free New York State Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/tobaccofreenys
- Tobacco Free New York State Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tobaccofreenys
Thanks for sharing this information. It was an interesting read.