Stop smoking before it starts

Stop smoking before it starts

Of the estimated 1.2 billion smoker’s world wide, over 900 million of them started smoking when they were children. If you are a parent, you should be starting to worry, after all, the health risks of smoking are well documented and you know the consequences of taking up the habit either through your own experiences or through such documented evidence.

The question of how to prevent your child from taking up smoking, or engaging in any other type of drug abuse is a tricky one, and by the time the answer comes along its often too late. Here are some ideas to help you in combating the temptation for your children.

Build an open rapport, with your child. The earlier you establish this, the better the rapport will be. This doesn’t mean you have to be their best friend, there is still a line of respect that needs to exist between the parent and the child, and many parents successfully build this communicative relationship every year.

The advantages of having this type of relationship allow you to broach sensitive topics with ease. The child needs to believe they can come to you and talk about anything. They can rely on your advice to be correct and unbiased. They learn to respect your opinion and share theirs with you, without the fear of reprisal, embarrassment or judgment. The advantages here are not only smoking, but can include sexual intercourse, drug use or bullying. It builds a type of self confidence in the child which will help them when they are dealing with peer pressure.

Encouragement for the child to take part in sporting activities is a great de-motivator. Successful child athletes rarely take up smoking as they feel the immediate effects the next time they take to the field. A child with a competitive spirit in sports will never let smoking get in the way of that winning feeling on the sports field.

Understand and listen to your children, from an early age, children are made aware of the dangers of smoking. They will often tell you what they find repulsive about it, or what they find as appealing. Remember to respect their opinion and listen to their logic before educating them further. Make it a constructive debate if required, include the health reasons why you shouldn’t smoke and explain the withdrawal symptoms when you try and stop smoking. This debate should also discuss ways that the child would react under peer pressure. If you can, prepare them for this. Make them confident enough that they will walk away if they have to.

Explain to children the rules of smoking in your house. Demonstrate this by enforcement. If you are a smoker then stick to the rules, make sure your friends and other family members do the same e.g. no smoking in the house.

People rarely start smoking after their teenage years, it is your responsibility as a parent to prevent your child in becoming a smoker, stop their smoking before they start.