With every passing day we are told about the dangers of cigarette smoking and how it can ruin one’s health. But, at the same time, there is an ever increasing rate of people indulging in smoking. Most smokers start at a very early age which is mostly during their childhood years.
This is the major reason why many parents are concerned and fussing over the issue of letting their child know about the hazards of cigarette smoking and the dangers it causes to the human health.
Surveys have revealed that 90% of adult smokers (usually chain) started off at the age of 13-14 years, even earlier in some cases. This is a serious concern not just for the parents but the entire society.
As a parent, it becomes a little hard to tackle with issue of letting your child know the hazards of smoking and stopping him from it but, you can do it if you start telling them about it at an early age. There are various ways to make your child not to think on the lines of smoking.
The first and foremost is to keep him busy. It is important that the child does not get free time so much so that he starts indulging in activities like cigarette smoking. There are activities which can actually help prevent cigarette smoking and there is nothing better than playing sports. Make your child play games and sports out on the field as this actually helps in prevention from smoking.
Have a very friendly approach while you are discussing the matter with your child and tell him the importance of good health. Always remember there is a very thin line between a boring parent and a friendly one. So make sure you keep your child’s interest intact and still let him know about the disadvantages and hazards of cigarette smoking to the human health.
There should be strict house rules in order to make cigarette smoking a hard to do practice. First of all, if you are smoker then quit it. You need to set a good example otherwise, not matter what you say, your child will end up doing what he likes and will blame you buy saying things like “you do it too”.
Set up rules that are so hard to break related to cigarette smoking that your child feels a difficulty in getting hands on a cigarette and smoking it. If you ever smoked in your life, be honest to your kids about it and tell them in the friendliest way as to how bad that decision was and how much better your life has become after quitting it.
Keep a check on the kinds of friends your kid hang out with. This does not mean that you immediately out a ban on your children and start choosing their friends for them. let them grow and explore but do keep a firm check on the friends.
Peer pressure is one of the most important reasons for children starting off smoking and in order to prevent that, you need to be at excellent terms with your children. Tell them that being friends with a smoker is absolutely ok but, indulging in the same kind of activity is not very wise.
Bring trust in and tell them how it works for a family. Do not emotionally blackmail your child as that can end up in drastic results.
Smoking has become somewhat of a social norm. Many parents are fussing on how to educate their child about it. We have some ways to help you tackle this problem.
