What Parents Can Do
- Try to understand why your kids are smoking. Some of them smoke to rebel against parents while others smoke just to “look cool’ among their friends.
- Remind your children that smoking makes them look and feel bad. On top of the negative health effects, remember that it also causes stained teeth, bad breath, and body odor.
- Help them understand the disadvantages of smoking. For instance, remind them that cigarettes are expensive.
- If your kids insist that they can “stop smoking anytime they want,” remind them that nicotine addiction is real and that it is serious.
Key Takeaways
No matter what your adolescent is going through, remember to keep your communication lines open. Allow them to express themselves, but at the same time, empower them with correct information and the potential consequences of risky behaviors.
Violence, early pregnancy, and childbirth, as well as alcohol, drug, and tobacco use, are some of the most common adolescent health issues in the country. In trying to address them, don’t forget that parents have the power to greatly affect their teen’s future health.
Learn more about parenting adolescents, here.
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