Youth tobacco use

From Judy Rubin, Tri-Community Coalition Executive Director; Tobacco Free Oakland Coalition Co-vice Chairperson:

It can be difficult talking to your kids about risk behaviors like tobacco use, and it’s easy to feel as if your words don’t make a difference. But, in fact, research shows that parents are a very influential factor in their children’s decision-making. Positive identification with parents is associated with decreased cigarette use. That’s why it’s so important to start talking about tobacco use while your kids are young, to tailor your approach to their stage of development, and to continue the conversation throughout adolescence.

While it can be tough to start the conversation, open communication is the key to making sure your children make smart choices about tobacco use and other risk behaviors. By starting early, you can help lay the foundation that will help your child develop the resistance skills needed for staying tobacco-free.

It can be especially difficult to talk to your kids about tobacco use if you smoke or use other forms of tobacco — you may feel like you’re being hypocritical or that your words won’t be effective at all. But don’t let that stop you. Although it’s tough, it’s still important that you talk to your kids about tobacco use. You also need to be especially watchful for warning signs of your child smoking, as children of smokers are much more likely to become smokers themselves. However, parental disapproval of smoking is a consistent protective factor against kids’ future smoking.

Talking to your kids about tobacco use is hard. And it can be even harder if you smoke. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have positive, insightful conversations about tobacco use with your child.