You may have seen some of these commercials. Perhaps parents should serve the role being assumed by the state. When kids are in school, the state is said to be acting to some extend in loco parenteis, in place of the parents. Many argue that schools should be allowed to discipline children when parents refuse to do so to retain order. Smoking, however, is an entirely different ball of wax.
Children often learn from or follow their parents mistakes.
Parents should not be allowed to abdicate the responsibility of explaining the dangers of smoking to their responsibilities. Too often, parents unwittingly supply the money used to purchase cigarettes. Of course, may students who are given freebie cigarettes and later do as necessary to procure them are a slightly different story. Still, despite the fact that most teens watch a minimum of three hours of television a day, making it likely that they will see at least a few ads a week, most kids will not relate to the actors or the contrived messages portrayed on television. They may curb the habit for a time akin to a fad kids follow, but they are likely to pick it back up out of boredom, defiance or addiction absent parental intervention and example.