How to Prevent Teens From Getting Cigarettes

The pressure to start smoking hits many children before they are old enough to buy their own cigarettes. Nevertheless, teens come up with ways to find cigarettes and you need to actively prevent them from doing so.

Instructions

1. Talk to your older children and make it absolutely clear that they cannot be getting cigarettes for their younger siblings. Also speak with your teen's older friends and remind them that it is illegal to buy tobacco for underage people.

2. Monitor any credit card use by your teen. It's very easy to purchase cigarettes online and have them shipped to you, even if you are underage. Also check the monthly bill of your credit cards to be sure that your teenager isn't using it to buy tobacco online.

3. Speak with the managers of stores that you believe to be selling tobacco to your teens. Politely ask them how they verify identification and consider giving them your child's name or photo to prevent underage sales with a false ID card. If you meet resistance, report the underage sales to the local police department.

4. Lobby your state representatives for a higher tobacco tax. Research shows that increasing the tax by just a few percent is enough to make cigarettes less affordable for minors.

5. Hide your cigarettes to prevent your children from getting them. If you can't keep your cigarettes on you, think about locking them up somewhere. Courteously ask other parents who smoke to do the same, since sometimes kids will be getting cigarettes from one home and trading them to friends.

6. Tell your children that they cannot hang out in areas where people smoke a lot. Find out where your teen is going after school and check it out to see if other teens are smoking in the area.

7. Limit the amount of cash that your teen carries around. It's good to have some money for an emergency, but find out the average price of cigarettes in your state and give your child a few dollars under that amount. Make sure that any larger sums will be spent immediately, like on a movie ticket, CD or food.

Tips & Warnings

• If you find cigarettes in your teen's belongings or believe that he is smoking, take the time to have a serious talk about the dangers of tobacco and addiction.

• Online cigarette purchases rarely require identification on delivery or have boxes that denote their contents.