What Parents Can Do
Preventing Your Kids from Starting
Concerned parents may have more influence over whether their children take up smoking than they think they do. In a recent study, teens who thought their parents would disapprove of them smoking were less than half as likely to smoke as those who thought their parents didn’t care. This held true regardless of whether or not the parents were smokers themselves.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) offers the following tips for parents to help them keep their kids smoke-free: Parents can be the GREATEST INFLUENCE in their kids’ lives. Talk directly to your children about the risks of tobacco use; if friends or relatives died from tobacco-related illnesses, let your kids know. If you use tobacco, you can still make a difference. Your best move, of course, is to try to quit. Meanwhile, don’t use tobacco in your children’s presence, don’t offer it to them, and don’t leave it where they can easily get it.

Helping Your Child Quit
If your child has already started smoking, there are things you can do to help them kick the habit. The CDC offers the following suggestions: Try to avoid threats and ultimatums. Find out why your child is smoking. Your preteen or teen may want to be accepted by a peer group, or he or she might want your attention.

Ask a few questions and determine why your teen is. If you smoke, try to quit. If you did smoke and have already quit, talk to your child about your experience. Personalize the little problems around smoking and the challenge of quitting. Teens and preteens often believe they can quit smoking whenever they want, but research shows many teens never do. Be supportive. Both you and your teen need to prepare for the mood swings and crankiness that can come with nicotine withdrawal.