Talking with Kids about Smoking

How do you talk with your children about smoking? Here are some helpful strategies:

• Act as role models. This is very important. If parents smoke. that is the role model children see.
• Don't dwell on consequences that will occur 20, 30 or 40 years down the road. It is difficult for children to imagine themselves as adults. Focus on the  short term. Tell them about shortness of breath, weakened heart and decreased  athletic ability. as well as bad breath, stained teeth and fingernails, the  high cost of cigarettes and foul-smelling hair and clothes.
• Approach smoking as a health hazard, not as an issue of bad behavior. You  don't want to make it more appealing by objecting to it. Teenagers are  naturally rebellious, which is why it's much better to start discussing  cigarettes with kids when they're at a young age, as young as 4 or 5.
• Talk with your kids about other youths who do smoke. Ask your kids if anyone at school is smoking and how they feel about that. Ask them if any of their  friends smoke and whether it tempts them. Keep the door open so they feel  they can talk to you.
• Help children decode images in cigarettes ads. Discuss the fact that cigarettes don't, as the ads imply, make people richer, more popular or more  beautiful.
• Emphasize how powerful cigarette addiction can be. Explain that children,  like adults, can become easily hooked and find it very difficult to quit.
• Give kids a reality check. Show them that despite what they hear from friends  and advertisements, most adults don't smoke and many are unwilling to  tolerate the practice in public. Point out that an increasing number of public places - from restaurants to sporting venues to beaches -no longer allow smoking.
• Teach your children to say "No." Try acting out situations in which your kids are tempted to try cigarettes and help them find creative, effective ways to  refuse tobacco.
• If necessary, impose consequences. While dialogue is important, it may be necessary to limit your child's spending money, restrict access to certain friends, and impose strict curfews if you find out that your child is smoking.

As a reminder, this information should not be relied on as medical advice and is not intended to replace the advice of your child’s pediatrician. Please read our full disclaimer.