Smoking Prevention in Kids

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

If smokers were honest with themselves, they would readily admit that they don't want their kids to follow them into the cigarette smoking world. I think most people (smokers included) know that smoking is bad for them and those around them. So how can we as a community, help the kids turn away from the culture of smoking?

I remember watching television ads detailing the adverse effects of smoking. Those were great because I was incredibly impressionable and even though my dad smoked, I knew that I didn't want to follow in his footsteps. Except for some very artistic "Truth" commercials, I don't see a lot of public support for anti-smoking campaigns. It seems the stop smoking message is having a difficult time getting published on the American airways.

Interestingly, a study from the Netherlands published in Preventive Medicine, looked at what a public prevention program might look like and gives some insight into the success of such a program. They developed a program that targeted elementary students in 5th and 6th grade. These are ten and eleven year olds who are about to be placed into a junior high school atmosphere where all sorts of peer pressures and experimentations are really at work.

The intervention group received only three anti-smoking lessons in both 5th and 6th grade for a total of six lessons prior to advancing to 7th grade. They discovered the kids in the intervention group had a higher intention not to smoke and, in fact, started to smoke less often than the control group kids who did not receive the lessons. The smoking prevalence increased from 2.5% to 3.6% in the intervention group, whereas, the control group saw a jump from 3.2% to 6.5%.

Understand this is only after receiving 3 lessons in each grade prior to going on to secondary school. Imagine if they had received intensive reinforcement at home or on television. It appears that very little effort can provide large gains in helping children avoid taking that first experimental puff. Interestingly, the study found that girls had the greatest difference in smoking prevalency between the intervention and control group.

What does this mean for us? Well, I think it shows that a well placed conversation with your children over their elementary school days, can provide them with a great foundation for not smoking when they get to junior high or high school. So don't be shy about telling your kids to not smoke. Tell them how bad it is and what the potential consequences are when they're young. It seems they'll remember when their friends are telling them how great it is.