Tobacco Free Weld County

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• Get Into Your Kid's Head

You may wish your kids could stay small forever so you can protect them. While part of their development includes a little rebellion to show their independence, you still have a big impact on them. This portion of the website includes information on the advertising and PR tactics of the tobacco industry and what you can do both for your children and to create a social environment that is unfriendly to tobacco in general.  If you are currently a tobacco user, the best thing you can do for your health, and the health of your kids, is to quit.

Teens and Tobacco: A Deadly Combination

Each day, nearly 4,800 kids smoke their first cigarette, and nearly 2,000 of these kids will  become regular smokers.

You may think your kid isn’t smoking because he or she is too young or too smart, plays sports, has no money to buy cigarettes, complains when you or others smoke, or has seen firsthand the effects of smoking when a family member got emphysema or died of lung cancer.
However, kids experience stress, peer pressure, the desire to rebel, and other characteristics of being kids that make them ideal candidates for tobacco use. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), nearly one in four high school students smoked a cigarette in the past month, and nearly one in six high school students say they first smoked a cigarette before age 13. How about your kid?

It’s time to talk with your kid about smoking. It’s not easy, but it’s important that you do it today. The younger kids are when they start smoking, the more likely they are to get addicted. In fact, some kids have signs of addiction even when they don’t smoke every day.
Most kids who smoke want to quit. But quitting is especially tough for kids because they don’t always know where to turn for help. Your intervention can make a difference. Let your kid know that he or she can talk to you about smoking at any time. The more you open the lines of communication, the more influence you’ll have over your kid, and the more of a resource you’ll become for your kid during the tough times.