My 7 year old niece commented on a few smokers loitering in my garden over the weekend that “YOU’RE ALL GONNA DIE IF YOU SMOKE” and of course she is right. The world has known smoking is bad for you since the 1950’s and should never be taken up as a casual hobby just because you think you look cool because it is uber addictive. However, it was slightly tempting to point out that “we are all gonna die – even if we don’t smoke”. Everybody’s going to die sometime.
Yes, smoking is very very bad for you. But so is drinking alcohol or crossing the road not at the lights. So is getting divorced or catching a sexual disease (those two things btw are not necessarily related) and so is climbing mountains or travelling to dangerous places. But I don’t understand why smoking is the key thing children in particular seem to be so scared of. Lots of young children I know have the same approach as my niece. Like they’ve just seen “Saw 3” and every other unimaginable evil in that cigarette somebody is smoking.
Personally, I’m curious about this approach. Is it right for Governments to attempt to scare whole nations about smoking? Put terrifying images on to the packets? Is that about trying to educate people or is that about patronising them? Should individuals be allowed to make their own decisions about their life choices without being condemned or not? Or is it the parents instilling the fear?
I am wholeheartedly in agreement that scary adverts about drink driving are a good thing. You are risking killing somebody and graphic images make you think twice, but with smoking, when you risk killing only yourself (generally speaking) and when lots of things can kill you is it the right approach? I mean I could run around going “DON’T GET DIVORCED IT’S GOING TO KILL YOU but it wouldn’t achieve very much. Everybody has to make their own life decisions don’t they? Even if they’re not very healthy ones.
I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who won’t agree with me on this issue – perhaps being a relatively liberal parent is a bad thing. We are told that over scaring them will make them do it anyway, but so will under scaring them I guess. So what is the solution?
Live and Let Live. That’s what I say.
Or do I mean Live and Let Die.
Fran
July 4, 2011Human nature is such that as soon as we are told not to, we want to. That’s where the joke comes from: ‘Why did the teenager cross the road?’ ‘Because his parents told him not to.’
Nicola
July 4, 2011As someone who started smoking following a marital split (well, taking up heroin seemed a little extreme and I really did need to have my wits about me with a 1 and 3 year old, so getting plastered wasn’t really an option…but I needed an anarchic something!) this is an interesting chain of thought.
I gave up smoking 7 weeks ago. Just suddenly. Cold turkey. Didn’t want to but knew that i should. My Dr told me I was modelling this behaviour for my sons (although I didn’t smoke in front of them…they still knew because I didn’t lie to them about it or pretend it was good for my health). I would hate it if they smoked. It is an insanely stupid, unhealthy habit – but one that was an essential crutch for me and I miss it.
I ‘only’ smoked 5-7 a day max. I am sure there are worse habits. And the fact that smoking is so villanised meant I was incredibly ashamed of my habit, feeling like a lesser being, a terrible mother, a bit of a slut. My mum smoked when I was younger (as did my dad) but I didn’t ever really think twice about it or judge them for it. So although I won’t be buying the boys their first pack of fags when they reach their teenage, experimental years, I am going to try to maintain some perspective too.
Great post.
Family Affairs
July 4, 2011Great comment xx
Kelloggville
July 4, 2011Did I miss something on the link between divorce and death or is it simy a case of ‘that divorce will be the death of me’?