Yet she doesn't seem to be able to keep him from smoking. She has tried lectures on health problems related to smoking, and she repeatedly tells him she does not want him smoking. But he continues to go out and smoke with friends. Here are some strategies for dealing with a smoking teen and for preventing your teen from becoming a smoker.
Cigarette smoking has both short term and long term consequences for the smoker.
The negative effects also take so long to recognize that the smoker develops a physical dependence on cigarettes long before realizing that there are problems with smoking. So lectures about smoking-related illnesses and the natural consequences of smoking are not particularly effective at changing the behavior of smokers. A mom tells her son that smoking is bad for his health and he feels as fine as ever. Everything we tell our children about smoking is contradicted in one way or another by the world around them. If you're a parent and you don't want your children to smoke, then make sure you don't smoke.