Teens And Smoking
What Is The Deal With Teens And Smoking?
Despite all of the warnings, the proactive educational programs, the peer pressure awareness and resistance forums, and the alternatives available to fend off boredom, teens and smoking still seem to go hand in hand at times, and we have good reason to be concerned about it. Though statistics show a decrease in teens and smoking over the past ten years, any number of youngsters in trouble is still not good enough for worried parents, and the pending health risks to these teens are an almost unbearable reality. Most smokers, late in their illness ridden and shortened lives, will attest to the fact that if they had only known how hard it would be to quit, they would never have worked so hard at teaching themselves how to start.
There is much trouble to be had by busy, intelligent, and curious teens, and smoking is no exception. But it is really hard to learn how to smoke cigarettes. They are harsh and hot, and it often takes a full year for a person to learn how to inhale a full drag off of a cigarette. If you fear that your child may be experimenting with such things, you may not be too late. Until he or she can inhale, the addiction process cannot take full hold, and you have a good chance of nipping it in the bud. The issue with teens and smoking is that most of these youngsters feel that they are invincible. They see the ages of twenty, thirty, and forty as light years away from them, and it can be difficult to make them understand how short that time is and how quickly smoking can take their health away.
So, how do we deal with teens and smoking, without alienating or patronizing them over it? The experts would say that you shouldn’t be afraid to try and scare them straight. There are pictures and videos available today of young men and women who are losing their lives due to smoking related disease, and these emotional tools can save your child from the same fate. When they see a person that they can relate to, young, attractive, and appealing, struggling through the last days of their 28 year life, they can be influenced very strongly to make better choices.
There are also medical picture and video journals of severe cases of smoking related diseases in advanced stages. These can be graphic, showing such conditions as horrifying skin ulcers due to circulatory issues. It can be hard to use another’s misfortune in order to prove that your words are true, but the victims depicted in these public journals hope to help others as well. No lengths are too far away when it comes to teens and smoking.