Six Steps that Can Guide You To Help your Teenager to Quit Smoking.
Despite most parents advising their children against smoking, recent statistics indicate that most high school seniors are smokers, this is despite the several efforts by the government, parents and health care providers to warn teenagers about the consequences of such habits. In case your teenager has started smoking, chances are that you are already aware of it. Even though your teen has already began smoking, you should make the right decision and help them to quit as early as possible.
Where do you begin? For most parents, trying to help their teenagers to stop smoking seems impossible. Here are some guidelines that will assist you to support and also convince your teenager to quit smoking.
1. Stay Calm
When you discover that your child has begun smoking, you will feel let down, disappointed and upset. This is especially if you have invested a lot of time and resources to educate your teen on the harmful risks of smoking, or if they have witnessed a relative get sick or even die due to cigarette smoking. Although your first reaction will be to want to give your child an angry lecture or even ground them for the rest of the school year, understand this approach won’t work.
2. Support Them to Quit.
Although it would be great to just tell your teenager not to smoke, rarely will it work out like that. Even if your child may be regretting for choosing to start smoking cigarettes, you should understand that cigarettes contain nicotine which is very addictive and can have a lasting effect on your teen’s brain.
3. It’s Time to Consider Alternatives.
When quitting cigarette smoking, just going cold turkey and giving up smoking is a very difficult thing to do. One popular cigarette smoking alternative is vaping by using ejuice.
4. Plan and Quit Together.
In case you are also a smoker, then chances are that your teenager is copying your habits. Quitting smoking cigarettes will benefit you both immensely since you can both share your struggles and encourage each other.
5. Inform your Child About the Dangers of Smoking.
A major reason as to why people stop smoking is because of the numerous health hazards that are linked to smoking. Most teenagers start smoking without knowing the harmful side effects of smoking, and by educating them, you will help them to make an informed decision to quit cigarette smoking.
6. Consider Rehabilitation.
When it comes to stopping behaviors that involve addiction, getting professional assistance can be of great help. If your teenager is having a difficult time to quit smoking even after providing them with your full support and using nicotine replacement therapies, get assistance from a professional.