Teenage smoking

How can I discourage or stop my son from smoking, he is 14

it's too late. just turf him out and make him live on the streets.

Whatever you do don't take the approach my mum did. She forced us to try it thinking we would be disgusted and never go near the things again. 5 or so years on and my brother still smokes.

I don't know, but don't punish him. Instead, reward him.

Where's he getting the cigarettes from?

Find someone who will have a moking competition with him...

See who can smoke 40 fags the quickest!

He wont want another ciggie, ever!

G

I don't think much of what you say will really sink in. Do you give him an allowance or something? You could try something like telling him if he's going to smoke, that's fine, but you'll need him to pay part of the health insurance then. You can assign him jobs around the house, giving each job a certain monetary value. I think the only way you'll get to him is by showing him if he smokes he won't have much fun money left over. Just like in real life.

Perhaps showing him this picture of a cancerous lung as most teenagers are visual learners. The link is a good video that is very graphic about the hazards of teenage smoking.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...eoid=2014529265

Scare tactics never seemed to work well for most teenagers I knew. It's like the drunk driving videos. They never seemed to be very effective either, considering the number of people I went to high school with that were done for DUI or killed in alcohol-related car accidents.

I never really saw the point in killing myself faster than I had to. And why smoke cigarettes when there are far more interesting things to smoke.

Do you seriously think that cigarettes are harmful but those "far more interesting things" are good for you?

yeh but tobacco tea tastes like shit...

(Did u know that if u boil a pack of cigarettes in water and then reduce the solution to a paste it is a deadly, fast-acting fatal poison? Gotta love the 'cookbook')

Three of my friends caught smoking as teens were set down and forced to smoke till they puked (not all at the same time and different families). Actually, one was caught with a pipe, another a cigar and the last was cigarettes. They never smoked again (well, not legal stuff anyway). May not work for everyone, but it did for them.

Other than that, have him list his pros and cons of smoking. Then sit down with him and add to the list the stuff he hasn't thought of yet (even pros if you want him to take it seriously). Encourage him to think what the cons might actually mean to him now and in the future. The game is to make the decision his, but one that you already know the answer to.

Lol not good, but I can see more why people would smoke weed over cigerettes. And I don't smoke either. Good old childhood asthma. Maybe you could hook your son up with a dose of that?

If he’s going smoke he’s going smoke and there is nothing you can do about it so you will just have to accept it, sorry.

perhaps tell him that suppositories are used in Germany a lo for all kinds of problems t!!!

And tell him that it is accepted practice in GERMANY IN SOME FAMILIES FOR A PARENT TO POP THEM IN...
That#ll do it me thinks!!!

That's pretty funny, you are perserverating on that "suppository". You really should try to move on as you will not find the peace in your heart that you deserve as long as you are stuck on that end .

I think you may find it was stuck somewhere else

Nicolaxx Nicotine Anal Suppositories.

yeah, I think the end is no where in sight for her resolving this issue about "the suppository".

I am not sure if there is any good advice to give because most kids once they start they don't stop smoking.

But how can he afford to smoke? Does he get the cigarettes from friends or from money you give him (assuming he doesn't have a job)? You could try to control what he spends his money on, but expect that not to work too well, as he will undoubtedly try to find ways around that.
Do most of his friends smoke? I have noticed that most people who smoke hang out with smokers and vice versa (non-smokers with non-smokers). Not that that is any help because you can hardly forbid him from hanging out with his friends, but just a suggestion why he may have started. It usually is peer pressure at that age, you want to be cool, you do what your friends do.

He lives in England with his mum, his mum and I are divorced, both mum and partner smoke like troopers, and his older sister (another sibling) tells me he spends his paper-round money on tabs.

So this is a difficult one

Ah yeah, doesn't help that mom & partner smoke.
I myself never touched a cigarette (wait, no, I never smoked one, I've touched one before ) but in my environment no one smoked either (my parents, friends, siblings).
I think it is very hard to change anything about his smoking as long as his environment stays the same, and I doubt you can do a whole lot from Munich... Hmmm... I don't think any of those educational pictures will help, I mean, everyone knows smoking is bad and can give you lung cancer and all that, yet people smoke anyway. What would possibly help is if someone he knows personally actually got lung cancer, but that is not something to wish on anyone, nor something you can actually help.

Its all down to personal choice and nothing to do with whether the parents smoke like chimneys or not. My parents do, but neither myself, my Sister or younger Brother do.

As for the make them smoke till they puke treatment, thats also bullshit. I was caught smoking when I was a kid, my mate got the smoke this packet of fags till you puke still smokes to this day. I got a 2 week grounding and dont, I just dont like cigerettes, they taste like shit and I dont see the fascination.

As for your kid, as others have said, there is not much you can do. Just hope he sees sense one day and stops, also make it clear he is never allowed to smoke in your presence, well until he turns 16 at least.

point out it's easier to get a girl if you don't smoke. some people don't care about kissing a smoker, some do. I can guarantee that there are few, if any, people who care about kissing a nonsmoker.

Ah yes, nothing like kissing an ashtray...

My daughter began smoking at the age of 13 (she didn't exactly tell me when- I guess round one year ago)- but has stopped recently. I will ask her whether any of my educational attempts have made her quit. (She was not a heavy smoker, but daily)- what I did: whenever I found cigarettes I confiscated them, I did not emphasize why she should not smoke (she knows), more about why she smokes, and what would be missing if she quits (like would anyone respect you less?), I asked her how many of her friends smoked, and how smokers in her clique felt about non-smokers or ex-smokers. I told her that it really makes me sad and that I HATE the smell of cigarettes in the flat (from the clothes, she never had smoked inside the flat), well I guess I was quite annoying for her, constantly bringing up the issue, but I just couldn't help myself.

@Mere and Mariposa: when all the friends smoke, they all smell like ashtrays and won't notice.

I was going to suggest not setting a bad example but seems its too late for that


I think emphatically saying it has 'nothing to do with it' based on a sample of one family is a bit of an unsafe statement. I think a lot of stuff, not just smoking, can be affected very much by the examples that parents/family (and to an extent peers) set

Maybe you need to think outside the box, so to speak. How about sitting him down and doing some maths with him and show him how much he would be spending on them a year. Even if he's not smoking too much I'm sure it would still add up to a sizeable amount. Enough to let him buy a PS3, a new ipod or a fancy new phone.

Make that 2, my parents smoke like chimneys and I have not so much as puffed on a normal ciggy. But that is just another statistical glitch I am sure as I thought it was known that chain smoking parents usually lead to smoking kids.

Not sure what my parents did right to make me uninterested in them. Maybe it was their openness about it all. From what I remember, They explained the health and the financial aspects and basically said if I want to smoke, it's my choice as I have all the facts. I was never *told* not to.

I've never "told" my kids not to smoke, but I have repeatedly told them that I hope they never smoke. I've told them that I was stupid enough to do it when I was their age and wish that I hadn't. It probably helps that their Mum has never smoked, although the rest of her family do. So far neither of them smoke, they are aged 15 and 19 so I hope they have made their decision and will stick with it.

Thanks for the ++ feedback

It is not the smoking I am worried about.
His sister tells me he does it to be big in front of his friends.

I am more worried that it may lead to worse things.

What like wearing trainers and not fastening his laces!!

Lazy feckers these kids!!