As a parent, you always want the best for your family. You want to look after them and make sure they’re living as healthily as they can. It’s important to establish good habits early so your children can carry with them in later life. Make sure you put the time in to discuss, and demonstrate, healthy life choices with your kids. It’s not just about eating right and exercising, but also what your children should be avoiding – such as smoking and binge drinking. It’s important that you get these sorts of conversations started in your family.
Careful Words
When you decide to discuss smoking with your children, you need to be careful with your tone. It’s a serious subject matter and should be treated as such. It could be easy for you to go down the route of strict parent and forbidding them from smoking. But chances are if you do that, it’s going to make them want to try it even more. Rather than tell them they can never smoke, discuss with them why they shouldn’t do it. There are plenty of sources you can find online for this.
Be Open
It was proved in Psychology Today that discussing smoking with your teenagers can help reduce the chances of them trying smoking. It was suggested to use cards with set questions on them that both you and your children can use. Such as “How people in the family feel about cigarette smoking.” By using these cards, it creates an open space for both of you to talk, but with enough structure in place to warrant a solid discussion.
Set a Good Example
You can’t tell your children about the dangers of smoking when you’re a smoker yourself – it’s far too hypocritical. This was also discussed in the study mentioned previously. Your kids are much less likely to take on board your advice when you’re going against it. If you are a smoker and don’t want your children to be, you need to quit before having any kind of discussion with them. Vape kits can be a great way to help you quit smoking as you can control your nicotine levels. VIP provides a fantastic range of products which can help you begin your journey with giving up cigarettes.
Don’t Patronise
An important thing to remember when you’ve decided to discuss smoking with your teenagers is not to patronize them. Even though they’ll always feel like your babies, they’re getting older and will want you to treat them like adults. By being open and honest with them, they’re going to listen and take you seriously. By creating a safe space for your children to talk with you, it’ll make your family closer to talk about whatever they want to.
