Concerned parents may have more power over whether their children start using tobacco than they think they do. Research has shown that teens whose parents talk with them often about the dangers of smoking are about half as likely to smoke as those who don’t have these family discussions. This holds true whether or not the parents are smokers, themselves.
Here are some tips from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for parents to help keep their kids tobacco-free:
Remember that despite the impact of movies, music, the Internet, and peers, parents can be the greatest influences in their kids’ lives.
Talk with your children about the risks of tobacco use. If loved ones have suffered or died from tobacco-related illnesses, let your kids know. Tell them that using tobacco strains the heart, damages the lungs, and can cause a lot of other health problems, including cancer. Also mention what it can do to the way a person looks and smells: smoking makes hair and clothes stink, causes bad breath, and stains teeth and fingernails. Spit and smokeless tobacco can cause bad breath, stained teeth, tooth decay, tooth loss, and bone loss in the jaw.
Start talking about tobacco use when your children are five or six years old and continue through their high school years. Many kids start using tobacco by age 11, and many are addicted by age 14.
Know if your kids’ friends use tobacco. Talk about ways to say “no” to tobacco.
Talk about the false glamorization of tobacco in the media, such as ads, movies, and magazines.
The children of parents who smoke are much more likely to smoke, themselves. But even if you use tobacco, you can still influence your kids’ decisions. You might even have more power, because you’ve been there. You can speak to your child firsthand about:
How you got started and what you thought about it at the time
How hard it is to quit
How it has affected your health
What it costs you, financially and socially
For more information on kids and tobacco, visit the American Cancer Society at cancer.org.
Originally published on cancer.org; republished with permission from the American Cancer Society.
