How to Talk to Kids about Smoking
August 30, 2010, By Howcast Videos 0 comments
Many longtime smokers started during their teenage years. It's important for you to talk to your children before they reach that age about smoking and its effects on their bodies. Nicotine addiction is one of the toughest to break and even one cigarette can create a dependence in the body.
Kids are most often pressured to smoke during high school or college to appear older than they are or to be a part of a crowd and fit in. Talking with your children about the short-term health problems, shortness of breath and yellowing of the teeth should be a good start to prevent them from smoking. If your child is athletic, explain to them how smoking affects the body's physical abilities and leads to a loss of stamina. Explain the long-term effects of smoking and the increased risk of cancer.
Remember, the earlier you start to talk to your children, the better chance they will not give in to peer pressure and start smoking. Our friends at Howcast put together a helpful video for you below.
Transcript: More than 4,400 kids begin smoking each day. Talk to your kids about smoking to keep them from joining the pack.
You Will Need:
Pictures
Literature
Listening skills
Rules
Friends or family (optional)
Activities that prohibit smoking (optional)
Step 1: Share the dangers
Discuss the dangers of smoking with your kids. Show them pictures of and literature about the consequences of smoking. Discuss health concerns associated with the habit, including cancer, emphysema and heart disease.
Tell your kids about friends or family members who have suffered from smoking-related illnesses.
Step 2: Express addition
Discuss how additive smoking is. A person can become addicted to nicotine over just a few days.
Step 3: Talk about peer pressure
Talk to your kids about how to deal with peer pressure and smoking. Practice responses to peer pressure with your kids.
Keep your kids involved in activities that prohibit and discourage smoking.
Step 4: Ask questions
Ask your kids what they believe are the positive and negatives of smoking. Listen and then discuss their thoughts.
Step 5: Share your story
Express to your kids that you regret beginning to smoke if you are a smoker. Do not smoke around your kids and do not leave them in a place where cigarettes are accessible.
Step 6: Set rules
Set rules against smoking and explain why these rules exist.
Worldwide, more than 5 million deaths are caused by tobacco use each year.
Comments (0):
No Comments yet, be the first!