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Tobacco Use: An Introduction
It can be difficult talking to your kids about risk behaviors like tobacco use, and it’s easy to feel as if your words don’t make a difference. But, in fact, research shows that you are a very influential factor in your children's decision-making.1 Positive identification with parents is associated with decreased cigarette use.8 That's why it's so important to start talking about tobacco use while your kids are young, to tailor your approach to their stage of development, and to continue the conversation throughout their adolescence.
While it can be tough to start the conversation, open communication is the key to making sure your children make smart choices about tobacco use and other risk behaviors. By starting early, you can help lay the foundation that will help your child develop the resistance skills needed for staying tobacco-free.
While it can be tough to start the conversation, open communication is the key to making sure your children make smart choices about tobacco use and other risk behaviors. By starting early, you can help lay the foundation that will help your child develop the resistance skills needed for staying tobacco-free.
Did You Know?
- Smoking is the leading cause of premature, preventable death and disease in the United States.2
- Each year, tobacco use results in more deaths than AIDS, unintentional injuries, suicide, homicide, and alcohol and drug abuse combined. 7 3
- Twenty percent of high school students report having smoked a cigarette in the last month.4
- In 2008, approximately 1,000 young people (under the age of 18) became daily smokers every day.5
- Involvement in structured activities, parental boundary setting, adult mentoring, perceived school connectedness, religious involvement, and other protective factors lower the chance that youth will engage in health-compromising behavior, including smoking.6
