When we want our kids to live a healthy life — without drugs, alcohol or tobacco, we need to make sure we practice what we preach. One of the most common things that parents want their children not to do yet they do it themselves is smoking. Many parents would advise their kids not to smoke, but many of these parents hit a stick whenever they can. This leaves the kids confused — if smoking is that bad, then why is Dad or Mom smoking?
Aside from the loss of credibility, you also expose your children to secondhand smoke. They may not smoke themselves, but they are equally at risk of developing certain illnesses due to exposure to secondhand smoke.
Secondhand smoke can come from mainstream smoke (the smoke that smokers exhale) and sidestream smoke (the smoke that floats from the end of a cigar, cigarette or pipe). It may seem not dangerous at first, but exposure to secondhand smoke has been proven to cause bronchitis, pneumonia and other respiratory infections; asthma (those who already have asthma may suffer from attacks triggered by secondhand smoke, while those who haven’t may develop asthma after significant exposure to secondhand smoke); coughing, sore throats, sniffling, and sneezing; heart disease; and cancer.
While you may opt to take your cigarette breaks outside the house or far from your kids, we go back to the initial argument pointing out that kids may not be able to avoid teen smoking if they see their parents do it.
Tags: kids smoking, secondhand smoke, smoking effects, teen smoking
