African American Teens and Smoking

By Shawn Williams, Courtesy BlackDoctor.org

Did you know that teen tobacco use is at an all time high? What attracts teens to cigarettes? Teens turn to tobacco for a variety of reasons. Perhaps, it's a form of rebellion or maybe they just want to fit in with a particular group of friends. Maybe they believe cigarettes will improve their concentration or help them lose weight. Many teenagers see smoking as part of their identity or persona. They may feel more macho, sexy, independent or grown-up when they smoke. Even more teens smoke because their parents do.

Teenagers who have a best friend or parent who smokes are more likely to start smoking themselves, partly because they have easier access to cigarettes. Teenagers are notorious for stealing cigarettes from their family members.

Children who begin smoking at an early age are more likely to engage in other risky behaviors, such as alcohol use, drug use and unprotected sex. They also have a greater risk of becoming long-term smokers.

Poor school performance and cigarette smoking seem to be related. Teenagers who do well in school seem less likely to start smoking.

If you find out that your teenager is a smoker, try not to flip out.

This will only cause them to tune you out. If you find out your teen is smoking, sit down and talk to them. Find out why they are smoking and why they started. Ask them how often they smoke and where they get the cigarettes. Even though you need to be cool, calm and collected with your child, do not let their actions go without repercussions. Discipline them and let them know you are going to help them quit.

If you smoke, quitting is one of the best things you can do to help keep your children get off cigarettes. Only 2 percent of adolescent smokers have nonsmoking parents. By contrast, 15 percent of adolescent smokers have both a mother and a father who smoke.

If you can't stop smoking, do the next best thing:

1) Don't smoke in your children's presence.

2) Avoid smoking in the house or car.

3) Don't offer cigarettes to your children.

5) Don't leave cigarettes where your children can get to them.

Parental disapproval of smoking, even from smoking parents, can help prevent teens from smoking. Counseling children not to smoke must begin in grade school, since 25 percent of adolescents have smoked an entire cigarette before age 13. You may want to role-play with your grade-schooler, helping him or her practice what to say if offered a cigarette.

To counteract the glamorized image of cigarette smoking in advertisements and movies, show your teen the consequences of smoking. Teach them about lung cancer and show them how smoking can discolor a person's teeth and nails or deteriorate their skin. They'll look at the models in the cigarette ads and actors and actresses in a very different way.

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