Peer pressure among teens has undoubtedly the most prevalent impact on their daily choices, whether they are good or bad. In today’s society, the positive decisions an adolescent makes are often weighed out by the poor ones. A lifestyle altering choice that many teens actively reject every day is the option to smoke. Sadly, many teens fall into the spiraling abyss of tobacco usage and other drugs. It seems as though everywhere one goes, there is always someone taking a drag off a cigarette. The sole popularity of it makes it enticing, wanting to know what its like just to try. However, there may be a way to deter this negative behavior early on in a child’s life; a method referred to as “antismoking parenting” has been proven effective in altering the future bad decisions made by teens. Parents serve as role models for their children throughout their lifetime. Involved parenthood in children’s lives has been shown to drastically reduce tobacco usage later in life (Khoury 266). According to a 2011 study published by the Drug and Alcohol Review, children of parents who smoke have a greater affinity for trying tobacco in the future (Williams 381).
Many studies show that parental smoking is a cross-sectional and longitudinal risk factor for young children (5-10 years), pre-teens (10-12 years) and teenagers. Parental smoking doubles the risk of adolescent smoking and increases the risk of being a smoker 20 years later.
This statement suggest that in an effort to effectively educate the prevention of smoking in offspring, the parents must take steps to quit smoking or continue to not smoke themselves. Positive results may been revealed from this simple first step of raising a drug-free kid. There are many opinions about the anti-drug programs pushed in schools pertaining to their effectiveness. This process of “inoculating” students against experimentation of drugs has failed according to Rodney Skager (1). With this being said, the responsibility of drug education relies heavily on the parents. Simply warning children and teens is not enough to deter them away from smoking. It takes an involved relationship connecting the parent and child, not only enlightening about the harmful effects of drugs, but also right from wrong. “Drug education for teenagers should be delivered in a genuinely interactive process that promotes involvement, trust and mutual respect between young people and adults,” (Skager 1). This educational bond plays a major role in upbringing commonly known as “antismoking parenting.” “Antismoking parenting” refers to more than just educating adolescents about the negative side of tobacco use. It’s being involved in the child’s daily life, knowing what they do when parents aren’t there to make decisions for them, and most importantly, influencing them for a successful future. An investigation was performed in Italy among families to see if this mode of parenting remained true.
Results indicated that increases in positive family climate were negatively associated with lifetime smoking among non-smokers. Additionally, parental knowledge of child daily activities decreased lifetime smoking.