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Karli Schreiber

Dr. Stoltman

ENG110

04/18/2019

Killing Your Children is Easier Than You Think

Tobacco kills more than 7 million people each year (World Health Organization). Not only does

smoking affect the smoker, but the people that surround the smoker as well. Secondhand smoke

is smoke that comes from lit tobacco products, most commonly known and used are cigarettes.

Smoking is not only awful for your health but doing so around children can cause many different

types of health implications for them in the future.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, tobacco smoke exposure has been labeled as

a group A carcinogen. In other words, it has been concluded that tobacco smoke exposure is one

of the ultimate causes of cancer (Nabi-Burza, et al.). Why would anyone want their child to have

a higher likelihood of developing a disease as evil as cancer?

It seems to me like the only reason someone would ever smoke around their children is to make

them sick. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention lists off many other types of effects of

secondhand smoke on children’s health. Some of these include asthma, ear infections, and

respiratory infections like pneumonia. Tobacco exposure can even cause sudden infant death

syndrome (Center for Disease Control and Prevention).

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My own mother used to smoke in the car while I was inside of it from when I was seven years

old, all the way until I was eighteen. This definitely could have been a contributing factor to my

asthma, as no one else in my family has had asthma. It has become well known that smoking is

an unbearably hard addiction to end for most. Although it may feel like a necessity to some

parents, it is not worth your child’s health. I have personally struggled when taking gym class

and have been made fun of for running out of breath so quickly. With that being said, my mental

health had also been affected from having my asthma being taken as a joke or an excuse.

Something parents should think about is the way their children look at them for being a smoker.

Smoking in front of your children may end up traumatizing them, depending on how it has

affected your health or behavior. On the other hand, it might influence your children that it is an

okay thing to do.

This statement clearly holds true as researchers from Colombia University Medical Center and

the New York State Psychiatric Institute found in a study that “teenagers are much more likely to

smoke and be dependent on nicotine if a parent is dependent on nicotine, especially daughters if

their mother is dependent on nicotine” (Paul, Hu, & Griesler). Likewise, I became dependent on

nicotine for about a year and a half while my mom also was.

Parents are people that children see as a role model, someone that they should want to be like.

PhD holding professor and research scientist Denise Kandel states, “parents are a powerful

influence” (Paul, Hu, & Griesler). A child should not have to look up to a parent who is

advertently attempting to develop terminal illnesses. Even though I know that both of my parents
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harm their bodies with drugs like alcohol and nicotine, I know that they are harmful. But because

they are seen as powerful influences in my life, it is more likely for me to act out and conform to

their actions. The children of today’s world have the ability to make the world’s biggest impacts.

They should be treated like gold, and be given the long, bright future that they deserve.

From a personal standpoint, watching my own mother smoke cigarettes growing up, it made me

feel that smoking was not as bad as it really is. Not too long after turning seventeen, I began to

start smoking electronic cigarettes because of the person in front of me who I was conditioned to

see as my role model. I had always been around the disgusting smell of burning tobacco, but I

thought maybe giving a fruity version a try. Eventually, as in two months later, I started to rely

on nicotine myself. Thankfully, I quit this past winter, and refuse to ever harm the precious gift

of life that I have been given again.

One parent who does value the gift of life is famous singer and songwriter Adele, who told

People Magazine, "I absolutely loved [smoking], but it’s not that fucking cool when I’m dying

from a smoking-related illness and my kid is, like, devastated” (Gilbert & Gisela). This is the

most important thing to know about smoking. It kills. Being millennials growing up with

technology and hypochondriac traits, we predict the worst. When I would see my mom smoking,

I would get so angry with her. I would say things like, “Are you trying to die?” Although I know

that was disrespectful, I wanted to get under her skin. It is painful to see an important figure in

your life do something so harmful.

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Smoking in front of children needs to be put to an end, before your life does. If someone you

care about smokes, tell them that you care about their well-being. Tell them that you do not want

that foul substance inside of their body, or yours.

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Works Cited

Nabi-Burza, Emara, et al. “Parents Smoking in Their Cars with Children Present.” Pediatrics,

American Academy of Pediatrics, Dec. 2012,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3507249/.

“Secondhand Smoke Facts | CDC.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, 17 Jan. 2018,

www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/general_facts/index.htm.

Gilbert, and Gisela. “Celebrities Who Quit Smoking & How They Did It.” SheKnows, 25 July

2018, www.sheknows.com/entertainment/slideshow/6357/celebs-who-have-quit-smoking/2/.

Paul, Timothy S, et al. “If Mom or Dad Is a Smoker, Their Teenager Is More Likely To Be a

Smoker Too.” Search the Website, 17 Sept. 2015, www.mailman.columbia.edu/public-health-

now/news/if-mom-or-dad-smoker-their-teenager-more-likely-be-smoker-too.

Health Organization, World. “Tobacco.” World Health Organization, World Health

Organization, 9 Mar. 2018, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco.