All kids really want this Christmas is for their parents to stop smoking
More than half of children with a parent who smokes say that their one wish for Christmas is that their mom or dad give up smoking.
Kids say they would go without Christmas presents, give up their pocket money and complete their homework every night, if it meant their parents would quit their smoking habit.
Almost 98% of children with a smoking parent wish that they would quit, with three quarters worrying about their parents dying.
Young people are so against smoking they’ve labelled it “stupid”, say they will never try a cigarette and that they wish nobody in the world smoked.
Almost a third of children surveyed admitted to hiding their parents’ cigarettes in a desperate attempt to help them quit smoking.
The youth research company Dubit asked 400 children aged 11-15, all with smoking parents, to list the aspects of life that worried them most.
Unsurprisingly, school work and exams came top – cited by 63% of the sample. Their parents' smoking habit was the second biggest worry, more significant than fear of falling out with friends (45%), looking good at school (27%), or having a boyfriend/girlfriend (16%).
The survey finds that teenagers are feeling increasingly responsible for their parents' health. Almost nine in 10 said they were concerned about the damage parents were doing to their health by smoking and 43% said they understood the risks of smoking better than their parents did.
Other findings included:
• 29% of teenagers feel they are the health experts in the family;
• 75% have asked or told their parents to stop smoking;
• 43% are angry that their parents won't listen to them;
• 29% feel frustrated that their parents don't know how bad smoking is for them.
Parents should think twice about the emotional distress their smoking has on their children."
A Child's Cry
Mom, I love you! Would you please stop smoking so that you will not get cancer and die!
Dad, I love you too! Would you please stop smoking so that you will not get cancer and die!
Do you love me, your baby, your child? Then would you please stop smoking so I can breath clean air and live a long, healthy and full life? After all I am your child! I have to breath the smoke you are making with cigarettes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdMcDPtHzBY
Children and Smoking: A Message to Parents
American Heart Association
http://rtips.cancer.gov/rtips/viewProduct.do?viewMode=product&productId=190514
54 per cent of children with parents who smoke would ask for them to give up as their one Christmas wish.
Of all the children polled, 98 per cent said they would like their parents to quit smoking; with 37 per cent even claiming they would go without Christmas presents to see their parents give it up.
What some kids say
"Some people start smoking because they think it looks cool, but it's dangerous and it smells." Alex
"People who smoke smell like an ashtray." Greg
"Cigarette smoke makes me cough and my eyes feel sore. Vera
"My dad is trying to give up. He gets grumpy but we try not to mind. We want him to give up smoking - then he'll feel better." Dylan
"If you smoke, people around you think that you're disgusting." Rowan
"I'm never going to smoke because I don't want yellow teeth." Jacob
"My granddad has bad lungs because of smokes. You can hear him breathe from a long way away." Mike
"Say "Look at the pictures on cigarette boxes. That could happen to you if you smoke." Aisha
Parents who smoke are causing huge emotional distress to their teenage children, a poll for the Department of Health reveals today.
46% of secondary school pupils with smoking parents said one of their main worries was their parents' inability or unwillingness to kick the habit.
This compared with 37% who were worried about money, 29% about bullying and 17% about the possibility of divorce.
Children whose parents smoked are twice as likely to begin smoking between 13 and 21.
Children whose parents quit smoking are less likely to become daily smokers than children whose parents keep smoking. Perhaps watching a parent quit smoking changes children’s smoking-related beliefs in beneficial ways. For example, children who see their parents quit smoking might have stronger beliefs that they can avoid smoking.
Children with at least one parent who quit smoking reported widespread healthier beliefs about smoking when they were in ninth grade.
Children with healthier smoking-related beliefs in ninth grade were less likely to be daily smokers in twelfth grade
Children with at least one parent who quit smoking were 30% less likely to be daily smokers in twelfth grade (odds ratio = 0.70, 95% confidence interval = 0.58-0.84)
As predicted, children whose parents had quit smoking by the time children were in third grade were less likely to be daily smokers during the twelfth grade. Children’s healthier cognitions during the ninth grade appear to mediate this effect. These results have some implications for anti-smoking campaigns. First, smoking cessation programs targeted to parents should emphasize the role that parents can play in promoting negative attitudes toward smoking and increasing children’s confidence in their ability to refuse tobacco. In addition, these results highlight the importance of smoking-related cognitions among all children, even those whose parents continue to smoke.
Smoking in Cars:
News Review From Harvard Medical School -- Most Smoker Parents Allow Smoking in Cars
In a new survey, about 2 out of 3 smoking parents who don't allow smoking at home said they do allow it in the car. Among those who don't have a no-smoking policy in the car, half allow smoking even when children are riding.. Researchers were surprised by the results. They said it shows people don't realize that smoke in the car, and even the residue of past smoking, can harm children. Researchers interviewed about 800 smokers who had brought their children to a doctor's office. About 3 out of 4 said that someone had smoked in their car in the last 3 months. About 1 out of 4 said they had a strict no-smoking policy for the car. Only about 12% said their child's doctor had urged them not to allow smoking in the car. The journal Pediatrics published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it November 12.
Twas The Night Before Christmas
Twas the Night Before Christmas!
Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house...
