<p>OP here and technically my son isn’t even old enough to smoke, as he’s still 17. He says he won’t light it, but still wants one. It’s just kind of disappointing, as I’d hoped he’d agree that the tradition was outdated, for several reasons mentioned here. Instead, I see it as bending to peer pressure.</p>
<p>The cigar smoking may have looked “cute” right after the ceremony, but when pictures made the local newspaper, there were second thoughts. Oh, and girls participate, too. No gender-bias here!</p>
<p>toledo - Of course it is bending to peer pressure! Do you want your son to be a sheep all of his life? What will he gain from lighting up? Nausea? Most likely. Acceptance by his fellow students? If they haven’t accepted him by now they won’t change their minds if he chooses to get green by trying to engage in a disgusting habit.</p>
<p>I suspect that this “tradition” is pushed by parents who probably get a good laugh at their son’s nausea and discomfort, but they are doing so to be accepted by other parents. A sad cycle.</p>
<p>Freaking out? I think it just sounds stupid… cigars are smelly things, I just don’t get the appeal at all and am suprised at parents thinking that it’s sort of cute or funny when I think of it as an old-guy stinky thing.</p>
<p>I don’t see what the big deal is. I don’t think it’s in any way cute or funny, and I think cigars are completely gross and unhealthy (my dad smoked them for years but always outside the house because my mom refused to let him do so in the house) but if my 18 year old wants to light one up per a tradition, I don’t care. Frankly I’ll be so thrilled when that diploma is in my kid’s hands that maybe I’ll join them. Geez. Yet another sign that maybe it’s time for me to move on from CC.</p>
<p>Ernie H and JRPar - I agree with you…and if there are so many concerns over a kid lighting up a cigar with other kids, just wait til those parents imagine their kid’s first beer at college…oh wait, those kids would NEVER drink because alcohol is just as nasty as the taste of a cigar. We do our best to instill values (and I’m a parent who will still be nagging my kids when I’m 90), but it’s time to let the little birdies fly.</p>
<p>Don’t mean to sound like a 9th grader I know, but… </p>
<p>?DUH!</p>
<p>It’s not about the single cigar.</p>
<p>It’s about the practice, the ceremony, which promotes tobacco as something cool, something to be associated with having a good time, celebrating, something mature, that grown-ups do. No, the single cigar, by itself, won’t hurt anyone. But it does promote the seductiveness and acceptance of tobacco use in general.</p>
<p>I really don’t see what the big deal is with having a single cigar after graduation. A good cigar can be quite nice on a special occasion! It doesn’t mean he will become a lifetime smoker.</p>
<p>Cigars contain the same bad stuff as cigarettes and cause the same bad outcomes. Non-cigar partaking students at the ceremony and guests including children and grandparents should not be subject to second-hand smoke and its risks including a possible acute asthma attack or other serious reaction.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of any kind of smoking after any kind of graduation being a tradition anywhere.</p>
<p>I’ve heard of smoking a cigar after the birth of a child being a tradition, and it’s another one I feel foolish. My father smoked for his very first time after my older brother was born. He was addicted to cigars for over 40 years after that, with a few periods of being able to not smoke them during those decades (sort of like how some alcoholics can go a few weeks without touching booze). Health issues (luckily not cancer) finally got him to shake the nasty habit in his 80’s, I think it was.</p>
<p>Drinking champagne during one’s wedding toast is also a tradition and our son told me years ago, “The first time I’ll drink alcohol is at the champagne toast for my wedding.” I can think of no WORSE time to first drink alcohol, as for all we know, he could carry some alcoholic gene (there is only one in either of his parents’ bloodline as far as we know, but even one is cause enough for concern to me) and it wouldn’t be fair to a spouse to only “discover” this after marriage (though I also grant that many people drink booze before marriage and only become addicted to it long after marriage; still, it seems better to me to at least try booze before marriage if you think you have any likelihood of ever wanting to drink at all, and as those who drink in moderation live longer than those who don’t drink at all, it is perhaps better to be open to the idea of consuming some alcohol every now and again).</p>
<p>Some traditions should be burned and buried lest they cause those who follow them to be.</p>
<p>Isn’t this forum all about the minutia of college life? In the big picture, I wouldn’t disown my son if he smoked a cigar after HS graduation, I’m not even sure how much I would fuss at him. The op brought up the topic, I think because she thought it was a strange tradition, not out of sense of outrage. Did anyone say that we should burn these kids at the stake? The best thing to do with a thread that doesn’t interest you is to not read it or post…</p>
<p>Sometimes it’s a good distraction to think about things that aren’t real serious. Please don’t assume that posters aren’t dealing with more complicated matters IRL.</p>
<p>Right on, kathiep! I have very serious issues going on with one of my kids that I don’t feel comfortable discussing on this board, but I sure enjoy having a little fun on threads like this one.</p>
<p>" Health issues (luckily not cancer) finally got him to shake the nasty habit in his 80’s, I think it was."</p>
<p>And very few who have the graduation victory cigar will keep it as a habit. No big deal. Enjoy it if you can–I can’t really stomach them myself.</p>
<p>Actually, new studies on smoking and teenagers shows that a stunningly high percentage are at risk of developing nicotine addiction from very short experiences with tobacco. Teenagers smoking tobacco at all, even once, is playing with fire so to speak. By far the best approach with tobacco is never, not even once. </p>
<p>Enough is known about the heath risks and extreme addictiveness of nicotine that I can’t personally imagine any set of circumstances where a high school would permit smoking at any event.</p>
<p>I was just curious if other high schools had this tradition. The fact that he’s 17 makes it illegal, technically. But using the “age” thing seems like a poor excuse. I’d like him to consider other factors. It was surprising to see that there are other schools that do this.</p>