How to Teach Teens About Smoking

Smoking can be a touchy subject when you're speaking with teens, but it is an essential one. Many people become addicted to smoking in their teen years, which makes those years the most important time to teach your teen about the harm smoking can cause. To teach your kids about smoking, you need to know how to target both their minds and their emotions.

Instructions

• 1

  Get your facts straight. Don't tell your child that smoking is the number one cause of death among teens. It's not, and when your child finds out that you've exaggerated about one fact, he may assume that you're exaggerating about it all.

• 2

  Find a time where there are no distractions around to talk with your teen about smoking. Take your child on a walk or to a restaurant, turn off your cell phone, and explain to her that you'd like to speak to her about something important.

• 3

  Hear him out. The odds are good that your teen already knows a lot of information about smoking--some true, some false. Gently correct any misconceptions and agree with the correct information. Also find out whether your teen believes that there are any "advantages" to smoking (such as becoming mature or fitting into a certain social group), so you can respond accordingly.

• 4

  Make it personal. If you know someone who died of lung cancer, or if your father or mother was a smoker, tell your child how it made you feel. Often a personal story from a parent can drive home a point like nothing else.

• 5

  Keep the lines of communication open. Tell your child that she should feel comfortable coming to you if she ever has any questions or concerns about smoking. Also suggest that your child can fight peer pressure by blaming her non-smoking state on you: "My parents would kill me if they found out I was smoking--and they always find out these things."