Facts About Smoking for Kids to Understand

Smoking can be a confusing issue for kids to understand. Adults warn kids that smoking is bad, yet so many people smoke. Getting the facts straight is the best way for you to realize the true dangers of smoking.

Horrible Health Problems

• Smoking increases a person's chances of getting lung and other forms of cancer, respiratory diseases like asthma and emphysema, heart attacks and strokes. Nearly 450,000 people die from smoking-related diseases in the U.S. every year.

Risks for Non-Smokers

• Inhaling smoke from someone else's cigarette increases the odds of disease in non-smokers, and the risks go beyond disease. According to PBS Kids, 1,500 kids are killed each year in house fires caused by cigarettes.

It's Gross

• Smokers develop yellow teeth and fingernails. Bad breath is common, and the hair, skin and clothes often have a foul odor.

The Right to Say No

• Peers who pressure you to smoke, despite all of the known risks, are not really your friends. Nearly 80 percent of all adult smokers started before the age 18; don't let yourself become one of them.

Quitting is Difficult

• Quitting smoking is very difficult, and some people are never successful. The nicotine in cigarettes that causes smokers to become addicted to them is very powerful. If you never smoke, you will never have to worry about quitting.