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| |    Immunizing Your Child against Tobacco by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. reviewed by Laura Jana, M.D., F.A.A.P. Unfortunately, there is no actual vaccine to protect children from the very real dangers of cigarettes. But you can take action to keep your child safe from tobacco addiction. Start young. Many children begin to smoke even before they start high school. The time to teach them about cigarettes and how they are marketed is before then, while they are still in grade school. Even preschoolers pick up on how their parents feel about cigarettes by listening to their offhand comments. These early impressions are very important. Drop casual comments about smoking. For example, suppose you are walking down the street and you pass a group of teenagers dangling cigarettes from their mouths. Once they are out of earshot, you might say to your child, "Those kids think it's cool to smoke, but they're wrong; they're just ruining their health." Next time, you might say, "You know why kids smoke? Peer pressure. They feel like they have to do whatever their friends are doing, even if it's stupid and dangerous." Over time, these messages become part of what your child believes. Talk with your child about marketing. When you see a print ad for cigarettes featuring an attractive man or woman, point it out to your child. "See that ad? They're trying to sell cigarettes by making you believe that smoking makes you look really great. That's a lie." With an older child, you might ask him to give you his interpretation of the ad. "What do you think they're selling here?" Often, of course, the real answer is "sex." These discussions are a good opportunity to talk easily about sex and how it is used all the time to sell products. Most school-age children think the idea of using sex to sell cigarettes or cars is really laughable. (Which, of course, it is.) Notice product placements. Product placements are when products show up on television shows or movies, often in ways that are barely noticeable. For example, if the star of a TV show drives a certain type of car, chances are the car company paid lots of money to make that happen. Cigarette companies pay tons of money to sponsor sporting events so that they can get their names on the air, and show their logos behind home plate or on the sides of race cars. Help your child recognize these things for what they are: attempts to make people want to buy cigarettes. Notice celebrity smokers. Our culture worships celebrities. Whatever they do, we (and especially kids) want to do. So, any time a celebrity shows up smoking, it makes kids want to start up. Celebrities who cultivate a tough-guy or anti-establishment air often smoke, and kids who want to be cool like them are at great risk. Talk with your children when they are still young about which celebrities they think are cool. If there are smokers in the group, you might mention from time to time how foolish it is to ruin your lungs and risk getting cancer just to look cool. Finally, set a good example. If you smoke, the chances are very high that your child will start smoking too, no matter what you say. Let your child see how hard you are working to get off cigarettes. Talk about all the money you are saving by not smoking, how much better you feel, how much nicer your clothes smell when they aren't full of smoke. It's wonderful for children to see their parents tackle hard challenges and prevail.
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