Teenage Smoking

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  My son is a good athlete, 14 years old and doesn't smoke, I fear that peer pressure from many of his friends that do will drive him to smoking. Any advise as to how to keep him from starting?
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I'll give you a short answer and then a long answer.  The short answer consists of 3 things:  Communication; Information; and, Refusal Skills.  Now I'll address each of these topics individually.
(1) Communication
    Make sure that the lines of communication are open between you and your son, such that it is likely that he will feel comfortable talking to you about the pressures and temptations of adolescence.  If you can estabish and maintain an atmosphere of open communication and non-judgmental sharing, teenagers are more likely to open up and talk about what is really on their minds.  On the other hand, a young person who is afraid to open his or her mouth for fear of being immediately judged, criticized or punished is unlikely to open up and more likely to keep things in and end up doing things before he talks about them.  The key is to get him to speak up before the fact, not after the fact.
(2) Information
    Young people do well when they understand what really happens to them when they introduce a foreign substance into their bodies.  Kids who are tempted to try tobacco products need to understand that most people who try out smoking become addicted to tobacco, although they don't set out to do so.  Tobacco contains nicotine, one of the most powerfully addictive substances there is.  Most people who try out smoking get hooked.  Most people who get hooked eventually want to stop and cannot (in a given year, fewer than 10% of those smokers who wants to quit is able to).  The average smoker who wants to quit and eventually succeeds in doing so takes 18 years to quit.  The average smoker lives about 10 years less than the average non-smoker.  And so forth.  A good place to learn more about smoking and tobacco dependence is the SMOKING section of my web site:  Ask DrSteve-The Real Story About Smoking, Drinking & Getting High (see the URL below).  On the LINKS section of my site, check out Dr. Fred Grannis' anti-
smoking site as well.  You and your son might surf the web together and that could also facilitate the process of communication.
(3) Refusal Skills
    Although Nancy Reagan suggested to our youth that they "just say no," mouthing these words is not enough.  Young people need to learn how to say no in a variety of situations, and what to do if peer pressure is so great that "just saying no" doesn't appear to be enough.  It helps to anticipate different high-risk social situations and to discuss and to literally role-play how to best handle them.  Find out if your school system sponsors any training programs which teach kids "refusal skills" and if it doesn't, see what you can do about introducting such a program into your son's school.  In the meantime, you can informally work on refusal skills at home.  This might work especially well if you can enlist the help of someone your son looks up to who is closer to him in age.
Your question is a good one!  Smoking IS a pediatric disease.  If your son withstands peer pressure and temptation until the end of his teenage years, it is unlikely that he will become addicted to tobacco.  Good luck!  Steve Adelman, M.D. (a.k.a. DrSteve)

This information is provided for general medical education purposes only.  Please consult your physician for diagnostic and treatment options pertaining to your specific medical condition.

Keyword: smoking, adolescence, peer pressure

Ask DrSteve:  The Real Story About Smoking, Drinking & Getting High