5 Simple, But Effective Cigarette Prevention Tips for Families

This post was sponsored by Tobacco Free New York State as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

At the risk of sounding redundant here, after sharing my very personal connection cigarette smoking here, I was humbled and honored when I was asked to discuss the topic further here today in part by the Tobacco Free New York State and Seen Enough Tobacco Initiative.

See I have lived in NY State all of my life so far. Plus, I grew up around smokers in my immediate family. Again, as I previously shared about my father’s use of cigarettes from before I was even born through my formative years right up until only a few years ago. 

Wasn’t Just my Father Who Smoked in My Family.

But not only did my father smoke cigarettes for all those years from the time he was so very young. But so did my mother’s father, my grandfather. While my dad was one of the lucky ones, who finally quit and survived to tell the tale, my grandfather wasn’t one of the lucky ones.

He also tried to quit many times over. But old habits die hard, I suppose. My grandfather had many things health-related go wrong for him later in life. But smoking definitely didn’t help and sadly contributed to his failing health towards the end of his life.

And even when he was so very sick, he would still smoke a cigarette on the sly. See, my grandmother tried her best to get her husband to quit smoking. But again, he never truly kicked the addiction. So, for me, smoking cigarettes and tobacco use is a personal one. While I never took to smoking myself, I watched its toll on my loved ones.

Therefore you better believe, I have extremely negative feelings where tobacco and cigarette use is concerned. Moreover, my grandfather and father starting smoking cigarettes at a young age. So, where my own kids are concerned I am always on high alert for keeping them from smoking cigarettes.

While more things may change, many seem to stay the same.

See right now in New York State, the average age of a new smoker is 13 years old! I am pretty sure my grandfather and father probably weren’t much older than that when they first started smoking cigarettes. Right now, my oldest turns 10 next month. So we aren’t far off from that number here. That statistic alone is alarming to me. And still, it is the reality. I mean back when my dad and grand-dad were that age, it was fairly easy to obtain cigarettes. And right now, it isn’t that much harder for kids to get their hands on cigarettes apparently.

Also, the reality is the fact that from 2014 – 2018, e-cigarette use grew 160% with high school students. See I am also fully aware the in my grandfather and father’s youth, traditional cigarettes were the in thing. But nowadays, e-cigarettes are enticing our youth more and more.

So, I have done my homework where this very crucial issue for my own kids is concerned. Therefore, I am more than happy to share what I am doing here now to help educate and keep my kids smoke-free.

Read on to find out how and download my FREE Printable, too!

5 Simple, But Effective Cigarette Prevention Tips for Families

1. Continually talk about cigarette dangers. 

No matter how many times your kids here you mention the certain and many dangers with cigarette smoking, you must keep on talking about it. See the open lines of communication with this issue is truly a major positive. Therefore, I cannot stress enough how very important it is to continually reiterate all the many and varied reasons why smoking cigarettes are a hazard to their overall health and well-being.

2. Be kid’s friends and peers.

As your kid’s grown, so do their friends and the pressure they are put under from said friends. Peer pressure is real – trust me I still can remember what peer pressure felt and looked like from my formative years. Therefore, you as the parent, need to be aware of your kid’s friends and their habits, as well. This awareness definitely spreads to cigarettes and the lurking dangers if their friends start smoking. So, again make sure to stay in the loop where your kid’s friends are concerned.

3. Set clear-cut rules to ban smoking at home.

Under no circumstances, do we tolerate cigarette smoking in our home. And I truly can say after growing up around cigarette smoking that I don’t miss. Therefore, I highly recommend that if you don’t want your kids to think smoking is OK that you condone others smoking in your home either.

4. If you do smoke, quit now.

While I have never smoked, I can honestly say from seeing how difficult it was for both my dad and grandfather to quit that quitting isn’t necessarily easy. But if you do smoke, I would highly recommend you quit. The old saying, do as I say, but not as I do comes to mind here. We are our kid’s role models. So, if you don’t want them to try to smoke cigarettes than don’t give them an added reason to start by showing them that you do.

5. Get your kids into activities that prohibit smoking.

Certain sports and/or other kid-related activities prohibit smoking. These types of activities will lend to hopefully keeping your kids from feeling the need to try it if they can’t smoke while doing them.

Download my FREE PrintableDownload my FREE Printable to help further the Cigarette Prevention for your family below:

For all the above reasons and more, I stand with Tobacco Free New York State proudly and have signed their pledge. So how about it? Will you sign the pledge to take action and protect kids from being exposed to tobacco products in stores?

What is your personal experience with cigarette smoking?

Share with me in the comments.