Kids friends smoking....

ucsd_ucla_dad
Sun, 16 Jul 2006 16:02:26 +0000

It’s unfortunate that kids would even try smoking nowadays with all of the knowledge that exists with irrefutable evidence of the health problems that result not to mention the cost associated with it but then many kids just seem unable to make good decisions in this area since they tend to not consider consequences.

Granted, certain movie stars have taken the stance that smoking is ‘cool’ again after a decades break and hollywood is irresponsible enough to cast them smoking in every movie - I guess for some shock value. The weaker-minded kids out there will try to emulate them. These same kids may view smoking as rebellious but they don’t stop to think they’re really rebelling against their own bodies.

Another point most kids that start probably don’t think about is the general inconvenience of it - once one becomes addicted, it’s a major hassle for them once they start working (at smoke-free workplaces), go to restaurants (smoke-free), fly on smoke-free flights, and become somewhat ostracized by the general population that doesn’t want to be around the smoke due to either the health factors (secondhand smoke can severely and immediately impact an asthmatic) or the disgust factor (it’s a filthy, smelly habit).

Parents need to be more forceful in preventing their kids from smoking. If the kids can manage to make it into their early 20s without smoking, then they’re likely to never smoke since by then they have a more developed ability to make reasonable choices and the ‘cool’ and ‘rebel’ factors will seem laughable by that time.