One of the major problems faced by parents these days is teen smoking. Many teens can be seen smoking openly in your vicinity. Reasons could vary. It could be peer pressure or attention deficit from parents or any such reasons but this is definitely a worrisome issue for parents. Parents are concerned for obvious reasons and pondering over ways to tackle it. One of the ways is to prevent it. So how to proceed towards preventing teen smoking?

 

The first thing parents need to do is to accept and realize the fact that teen smoking has become a widely prevalent phenomenon. Parents must acknowledge that the problem can occur in their own households as well. It would be a huge misconception to think that their teens won’t fall prey to this bad habit. The truth is your kid is as much vulnerable to this problem as any other teen. Once the realization sets in, appropriate steps need to be taken. Most of teens take to smoking because of peer pressure. It is also considered as a way to look cool and smoking is perceived as ‘in thing’. In such cases, its parents’ job to instill self-confidence and esteem in their teens.  Parents also need to develop better relationships with the teens and guide them in maintaining body shape and dealing with stress.  

 

Parents need to put examples by practicing the same behavior that they preach. If parents are smokers then kids are more prone to fall prey to smoking habit. So parents must lead by example. Parents must look out for signs that teens are gravitating towards smoking. That’s the best way to prevent smoking. It would be very handful if parents express their feelings about smoking to the teens. Talk about it in a proper way without any offensive or coercive way.