It's crucial to have the proper conversation with your kids about the risks of smoking if you want to influence their decision-making.
Adolescence is a challenging time for parents. Around this time, your once-loving child may become an uncontrollable creature and is more likely to try out harmful habits like smoking.
Reasons vary as to why kids start smoking. Concerns about popularity and social acceptance are common during adolescence. Teenagers who lack confidence and assertiveness are more vulnerable to the influence of their peers and more prone to start smoking. People may smoke to relieve anxiety, anger, depression, or boredom. Some young people may falsely believe that smoking facilitates weight loss or increases physical vitality. For some, smoking becomes an ingrained routine simply because they are constantly exposed to tobacco products.
Young people are typically the ones who begin smoking. Based on the National Population Health Survey (NPHS) 2020, smoking prevalence among our youth aged 18-29 years was 8.8%.
Around half of all smokers eventually succumb to their habit. Inhaling secondhand smoke is responsible for the deaths of around 1.2 million non-smokers each year. Smoking is associated with an increased risk of death, as well as addiction, a decline in physical fitness, an increased risk of lung cancer, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
It’s common for parents to feel helpless when it comes to shaping their adolescent’s actions, yet they have more sway than they give themselves credit for. Keep reading to find out how to strengthen your relationship with your kid and discourage unhealthy habits like smoking.
Being a good role model
Children are highly impressionable and tend to adopt their parents’ values, attitudes, and behaviors as their own. Teenagers are greatly influenced by their parents’ behaviors, including whether or not their parents smoke. A study by researchers at Dartmouth College revealed that children with parents who smoked were 4 times more likely to purchase cigarettes, as compared to children with non-smoker parents (as cited in Health Promotion Board, 2009).
The parenting strategy taken can have an effect on whether or not a child starts smoking. Parents who are kind, attentive, and interested in their children’s lives are more likely to raise healthy adults who will avoid the harmful effects of tobacco.
Strategies for Preventing Smoking
Teenage smoking rates can be reduced through increased public education. If you want to reduce the likelihood that your child will start smoking, you can take the initiative to talk to them about it, show empathy, and give them space.
Communicating effectively with your teens
- Start having conversations about the dangers of tobacco smoking with your five- or six-year-old children and keep them going all the way into their teenage years.
- Stress the short-term dangers, such as the potential for addiction, lowered health and fitness, coughing and throat irritation, foul breath, smelly hair and clothes, and the loss of money that could be spent on more meaningful pursuits.
- Tell your kids that it just takes a few puffs of nicotine for a person to get hooked to smoking, and that can happen in a matter of days or weeks.
- It’s important to warn people about the consequences of smoking in the long run, even if it’s possible that they won’t listen. Cancer, heart disease, lung disease, birth defects, and death are all possible outcomes.
- When your kids become older, don’t stop having conversations about how bad smoking is for them. Give them the news if they have loved ones who are suffering from or have passed away from smoking-related ailments.
- Find out whether any of your kids’ pals smoke. How to deal with pressure to smoke from friends is a topic to be discussed.
- Discuss the media’s alluring portrayal of smokers
Show empathetic behavior
- Have an open form of communication, so your kids can tell you what’s on their minds without worrying about repercussions.
- Acknowledging your children’s good deeds will boost their sense of self-worth and equip them to resist the influence of their peers.
- Be sympathetic and investigate the causes of your children’s smoking fascination.
- Don’t freak out if you find out your kids are smoking. Try to maintain your composure and refrain from making any hasty judgments.
- Instead of harshly reprimanding them if your suspicions are proven, try softly probing to learn more about their smoking behavior.
- Encourage them and use positive reinforcement wherever you can when they try to give up.
Allow them to express themselves freely
- Make sure your kids have enough independence. There are several factors to consider when deciding how early you should entrust responsibility to your kids, including their level of maturity, your level of comfort, and the prevalent cultural standards. Strong parental authority has been linked to increased vulnerability to peer pressure. Teens who make decisions together, on the other hand, are less prone to being influenced by their peers.
- Encourage your kids to share their thoughts on major family decisions by holding family meetings. As a result, kids will feel that they have a real impact on the household and that their contributions are important. You can gauge your kids’ degree of maturity by watching how they react and make decisions.
- Define the limits by establishing strict rules on what is and is not allowed. Instead of just enforcing rules like “no smoking in the house,” explain why they are necessary.
- There are legal ramifications to think about when smoking. Selling or providing tobacco products to anybody under the age of 21 is unlawful in Singapore. No minors are permitted to use or carry cigarettes or other tobacco products in public.
For Parents Who Have a Child Who Already Smokes
You can help your teen who is currently a smoker put an end to the habit. Threats and heated arguments are ineffective and should be avoided. Find out why your child is smoking by talking to them in a calm, rational manner. Then, be sure to show your gratitude by rewarding your adolescent for making the decision to stop smoking.
If you are a smoker, think carefully about your actions and whether or not you want to quit in order to provide a good example for your child. If you used to be a smoker, though, you owe it to your child to be open and honest about the challenges you faced.
Teens aren’t the only ones who have trouble breaking bad habits; adults do, too. Here are six ways to keep in mind whenever the urge to smoke arises:
- Find out why you want to give up: Write down all the positive aspects of not smoking and refer to it when you feel the need to light up again. For example, “I want to stop smoking so that I can save money for food.” As a parent, you have to motivate them to make a similar list and gently remind them to read it whenever they’re tempted to light up.
- Choose a strategy: Smoking can be given up in a number of ways. Either by ending it completely or gradual reduction “slow and steady” can be a viable method for giving up tobacco. Using a technique that is familiar to you can keep you from losing interest in quitting smoke.
- Take away all cigarettes, lighters, ashtrays, and matches to eliminate smoking’s allure from your home.
- You can postpone smoking by distracting yourself with activities like deep breathing or drinking a glass of warm water whenever you feel the temptation to light up. When the impulse to smoke arises, try to resist it for as long as possible. Never forget that you will feel better after the craving passes.
- Divert your attention; start doing something you enjoy. If you and your teen smoke, maybe it’s time for you to take up something new together. Taking up a new interest is a great way to refocus your energy and mental capacity on expanding your horizons and enriching your life. More quality time spent together as a family is always a plus in a child’s development.
- If a parent really wants to help their child quit smoking, they should have open conversations with them about the benefits of giving up the habit. Instead of trying to argue or fight with your kids, consider showing them compassion and understanding instead. Ask gently if they would like to share their feelings. Keeping your children up-to-date on the many methods available for coping with withdrawal is also helpful.
Successful parenting techniques might have a favorable effect on your teenagers. Nonetheless, if your kids do become smokers, that is not a reflection on your abilities as a parent. If your kids are smokers, maybe you can use what you’ve learned to help them quit, and if not, at least you’ll have a better idea of how to raise healthy, responsible adults.