Why Do Teens Smoke? Risk factors to watch for

If you are worried that your teen smokes and want to understand their point of view, then read the full article ahead. Smoking may look cool initially but is a dangerous activity, and your teenager should have refrained from smoking.

Before talking to your kid about smoking, you need to make sure that your kid is really smoking or you just have a doubt about it. Here are some ways in which you can make sure whether your kid is smoking or not –

1. If your teen has “cigarette smoke breath” or is constantly chewing gum or chewing breath mints to cover it up, they may be smoking.
2. Just brushing your teeth and using mouthwash won’t be enough to prevent the harmful effects of smoking on your teeth. If your teenager’s teeth are turning yellow, it’s almost certain they’re smoking. Constant smoking’s impact can also be seen on the lips of your teenagers, such as the blackening of lips.
3. Vocal discomfort, sore throats, and a persistent cough are all symptoms that someone smokes frequently. If other diseases have been ruled out and there are additional indicators of smoking, your teen’s cough could be due to smoking.
4. If your adolescent appears agitated but can be “fixed” by stepping outside alone for a few minutes, they may be smoking. When a person is hooked to nicotine, the effects wear off, and they become anxious. A cigarette will “take the edge off,” and the person will appear more calm and friendly as a result.

Other than these, there can be other signs such as smoke breath on clothes as well.

Here are some reasons why teens smoke –

1. Teens pick up smoking habits from their parents. If one of their parents, guardians, or relatives smokes, they are likely to follow in their footsteps and begin smoking as well. Parents who smoke at home have a greater influence on their children and may cause their children’s smoking habits. When teenagers realize that smoking helps their parents or adults relax, stay alert, or reduce stress, they may be motivated to try it themselves. So, if you want your kid to stop smoking, you have to eventually quit because you are the most significant influence on your kid.
2. When students approach middle or high school, they are subjected to a great deal of peer pressure from their classmates or group members. They tend to imitate what others are doing. kids try their hardest to join in with their friends’ groups and appear cool by copying them to be liked. They also want to have a sense of self-reliance and do things on their own. Tobacco usage is extremely widespread among youngsters. They are heavily impacted by the smoking practices of their peers and hence begin to smoke. You can talk to your kid to change their friend’s group to quit smoking.

These are some of the most common reasons kids choose to smoke; other than this sometimes it might be because of social media culture or just doing smoking because it is considered a cool trend.

It is needed not to mention that smoking is hazardous and life-threatening. It has effects on the teen body as well. Cigarette smoking causes severe health concerns in children and adolescents, including an increase in the number and severity of respiratory infections, decreased physical fitness, and probable impacts on lung growth and function.

This is how you can prevent your kid from smoking –

– Before scolding them or grounding them, you need to have a discussion with them and talk to them about how hazardous smoking is and why they need to stop. You as a parent also need to understand that quitting is not as easy as told, and your kid may need time. This is a process that needs a lot of patience.

– Teach your kids to say No when they find something wrong or do not want to do that particular thing. Not every kid wants to smoke but is not able to smoke because of peer pressure. Teach your kid to say No and to have enough confidence to walk out when they do not find something comfortable.

– Make them understand that smoking is not at all cool or glamorous but just a life-threatening habit. You need to set yourself as an example in front of your kid if you don’t smoke.

– If the situation is out of your hands, then it is not late to take your kid to a good rehab that will help them to quit.

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