Anxiety Thing # 3 - Children an Forced Smoking

Parents who force their children to smoke really bug me. At least once per day I see parents driving in their car smoking while their children sit in the back seat. It is bad enough that these parents care so little about their own health; it is bad enough that they care so little about being alive and healthy so they can enjoy their children as adults and their grandchildren. But to care so little about their children as to force them to smoke is disgraceful. It should be grounds for child abuse charges.

It is not as if the parents don’t know about the damage caused by smoking. Television, radio, newspaper and magazine ads all shout out the diseases caused by smoking. There is nobody, especially not driving parents, so isolated as to not know of the ads. Even cigarette packages carry warnings. Is there anybody who doesn’t know of at least one person who is sick or who has died from a smoking related illness? What do these parents think the ads and warnings are about? Maybe they just don’t think!

The explanations that can be offered for this smoking behavior by parents are varied – lack of education, lack of knowledge, belief system, addiction, stress, others do it, it’s a social behavior and so on. These are all cop outs. This smoking behavior comes down to:
(1) arrogance – nobody is going to tell me what to do
(2) redneck perspectives – as above
(3) Lack of respect for the children
(4) Lack of concern for the children
(5) Being self-focused and selfish.

It all boils down to lack of love for the children. If you love your children are you going to force (not allow) them to breathe in poisonous smoke – smoke that is proven to cause heart attacks, respiratory problems and cancer. What a great gift to force the child that you love to have!

So come on parents – teach your children to smoke; force them to smoke; make sure they grow up as smokers; make sure they will suffer from cancer, respiratory problems and heart problems. Show your children how much you love them.

Every smoker can stop smoking if he wishes to. The key is wanting to stop. There are many stop smoking programs but none of them will work if the smoker does not want to stop. Understand that the tobacco companies do not want you to stop - they love it when you light up and the more children you convince to smoke the better they like it. So you decide - support the tobacco companies or support your children. I don't believe you can do both.