How to Educate a Teen About the Dangers of Smoking
"More people die from tobacco-related illnesses than from automobile accidents, drug abuse, AIDS and alcohol combined," states the News Medical website, citing Alexander V. Prokhorov, a professor at the M.D.Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas. Educating teens about the dangers of smoking can sometimes feel like an impossible task. Youths often believe that they are indestructible and that they know better than most adults. Furthermore, teenagers often see beloved role models from actors to rock stars smoking rather publicly. To best educate teens about the dangers of smoking you need to talk to them directly and like adults, telling them about the real dangers they are putting themselves in.
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Instructions
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Ask your teenager about what he knows about the long-term effects of smoking. Most teenagers already know about lung cancer and emphysema but many of them only have a vague understanding of these diseases. Explain what these diseases are, their symptoms and effects in frank, simple terminology. For example, you could say: Empheysma is when the air sacs at the very tips of your smallest air passages are obliterated. It prevents oxygen from entering and reaching your bloodstream and creates a permanent shortness of breath.
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Show pictures of organs from people suffering from tobacco-related illnesses. Make sure you can juxtapose these images with photos of healthy organs. You can find such pictures at websites like Tobacco Facts.info or Cigarette.com.
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Ask your teenager if he knows about the short-term effects of smoking. Mention things like getting sick more easily, having a harder time recovering from illnesses, bad breath, premature wrinkling, becoming more likely to develop an anxiety disorder, staining of teeth and dry hair, among others.
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Show your teenager a diagram of what's in a cigarette. Go to the website smokefreecamden.nhs.uk and click on "inside" from the top menu, then click on "Facts and Figures" and then click on "special Chemistry." The web page will display a diagram of all the chemicals that are in a cigarette. Go over each ingredient with your child, such as carbon monoxide, the toxic gas emitted from car exhausts, hydrogen cyanide, a poison used in gas chambers and formaldehyde, also known as embalming fluid.
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Visit websites like Whyquit.com or Ashaust.org.au and click on stories. Read together with your child about the tough times people have had smoking, the difficulty they have faced quitting and the ill health they've reaped from the habit.
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Calculate how much cigarettes cost in your city. Calculate how much your teen would spend if they smoked a pack or half a pack a day. Brainstorm together other ways she could spend that money such as on a vacation, a leather jacket or saving toward a car. Calculate how much she might spend over a lifetime on cigarettes. The sum could easily reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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Repeat this process with your teen throughout adolescence, according to Linda Helper, R.N., in the By Parents for Parents online article, "Teen Smoking." Your teen needs these ideas drilled into his head and the best way to do that is through repetition. Make sure you're not just preaching to your teenager but actively engaging in discussions on the subject where you listen as well.
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Tips & Warnings
Part of not smoking is being able to say no to peer pressure. A teen will be more likely to say no to peer pressure if she feels good about herself. Get your child involved in sports, art, dance, music and other activities that will help increase her self-esteem.
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- Photo Credit cigarette image by Wasim from Fotolia.com
