Tobacco: Chew, Snuff, and Cigarettes
Tobacco is one of the most accepted social drugs. Seeing posters of lungs blackened by cigarettes and the oral cancers caused by smokeless tobacco doesn't stop teens from using these products in an effort to be cool or rebel. Nicotine is highly addictive, and what may start as innocent experimentation may lead to a problem your son can't deal with alone.
In 2005, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that 54.3 percent of students had tried smoking cigarettes. About 25.6 percent of these teens smoked before the age of thirteen. Another 8 percent tried smokeless tobacco, while 14 percent smoked cigars.
Essential
If you are a smoker, consider quitting. Share the struggles of quitting with your son and ask for his support. You can try many programs available through hospitals, doctors, and associations.
As a parent, let your son know straight up that you consider chew, snuff, and cigarettes to be drugs. He should know the consequences for using drugs. Then you have to enforce the rules if you find your son has broken them.
Some studies show that adolescent boys who are involved in sports are less likely to use tobacco products than teens who aren't athletic. Regardless, your son should know how tobacco products affect his body.
If your son has already started smoking, help him quit. Smoking is highly addictive, and the sooner he quits, the better. It is important that your son know the following effects of smoking on his body:
Decrease in the rate of lung growth and function
Drop in athletic endurance and performance
Increased risk of respiratory illnesses
Increased risk for the development of lung cancer
Greater likelihood of becoming ill and staying ill
Decrease in heart function
Decrease in sense of taste and smell
Increase in tooth decay and number of cavities
Decrease in certain hormone levels
Among adult smokers, 90 percent started smoking before they were eighteen years old. If you can help your son not start smoking, you can increase the probability that he will lead a smoke-free life.
E-Fact
Even if your son does not personally smoke, he may be around others who do smoke. Let him know he has the right and responsibility to protect his body from the more than forty-three carcinogens in cigarette smoke.
Smokeless tobaccos (chew and snuff) are also dangerous, causing such problems as periodontal disease, high blood pressure, and oral cancer. Like smoking, they can be extremely difficult to quit. Your son will need your support. Consider helping him find a program designed specifically for teens, no matter which type of tobacco he uses. You may want to talk to your health care provider about ways to deal with the oral fixations that go along with snuff, chew, or smokeless tobacco.
