teens & smoking

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-04-2002
teens & smoking
33
Thu, 04-27-2006 - 6:55pm
If you know your teen is smoking under the age of 18, do you forbid them to smoke, or just give permission & rather he/she does it in front of you then behind your back ?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2004
Sat, 04-29-2006 - 10:00pm

Addiction has nothing do with the amount you use but that you NEED it,in certain situations and at certain times of the day.

Even occasional smoking is harmful to your health.

Avatar for heartsandroses2002
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sat, 04-29-2006 - 10:39pm

Ditto - you provided a perfect answer and explanation.

My 16dd was the kid who wrote a letter to her bio-dad begging him not to smoke. She was the one who cried after having dinner with him and he had to leave the restaurant to go have a smoke. This is the dd who became an advocate for her middle school's anit smoking campaign....every sign pointed to no for her. It was a major disappointment when I discovered she smoked, though with her personality it wasn't a surprise.

I am confident that she will come around and give it up eventually. I don't supply money for cigarettes and no one smokes in my house.

I agree that for someone who has never smoked or gone through withdrawal, they really can blast off all they want about the dangers, but otherwise they are wasting thier breath. Some people learn from other's experience, but most people I know learn from thier own.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2005
Tue, 05-02-2006 - 1:16pm

You're right. I never smoked. However, dh smoked for years. He quit and never smoked again. It can be done. Nobody said it would be easy, though. I think all of us ardent anti-smokers understand that. We just don't accept that it's impossible. Too many have been successful.

One of my co-workers is only 55 years old and in horrible health. She is currently on medical leave. At 55 she has advanced osteo arthritis, despite taking HRT for years before the studies came out. She needs a total his replacement, and believe it or not, they are partially blaming the smoking on it. I never heard it could accelerate bone deterioration, but I'm not completely surprised. Not surprisingly, she has no plans to quit smoking. She also has a horrible cough, and after the chest x-ray they will do before surgery, I wouldn't be surprised if she has emphysema.

Neither dh or I ever smoked since we've had kids. We wouldn't allow our kids to smoke, if we knew about it. Certainly not in our home. I understand you can't be with them 24/7, but your own habits send a powerful message.

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