Long-term studies show that smoking leads to many serious health conditions. It causes high blood pressure, heart attacks, different kinds of cancers, and many more, especially if people start smoking at a young age. Not to mention that nicotine is a very potent substance that causes addiction and dependency. It's the main reason why even if people know for a fact that cigarette smoking kills, it's still one of the most common cause of preventable deaths each year. Parents are well justified for their concern regarding teenage smoking.
Like many other teenage disciplinary issues, convincing teens to stop smoking can be a challenge. If the habit is just starting out, parents contend with this idea in teens' heads that smoking makes them look cool and mature. There's also the extreme peer pressure that they are often subjected to. Teens often find their need to fit in to be a lot more compelling than their fear of their parents' anger. At times, teens even start smoking even if they don't really want to smoke because of peer pressure. Over time, the addiction takes hold of them and they keep on smoking.
Quitting smoking is not easy for adults, so there's no reason to believe that it will be easy for teens too. Parents cannot make that decision for teens, and they can't always keep an eye on them, being already almost-adults. The best way to help teens quit smoking is to make them want to quit. Asserting a little authority helps, especially if they still live with you, but ultimately, it's important to give your teen the space they need to form their own decisions and realize the repercussions of these decisions on their own lives.
Here are a few suggested punishments for teens and parenting tips in order to help stop teenage smoking:
Discuss specific house rules on smoking - Parents can have a better chance of convincing their teens to stop smoking if they also don't smoke at home. It would also help to impose punishment for smoking or for when your teen smells like cigarette smoke. It's also important to punish teens when you catch them with cigarettes or lighters in their possession. Whether they admit that it's theirs or not, saying that mere possession is unacceptable and they need to take accountability for that.
Discuss laws against underage smoking - Learn what the laws are in your state regarding underage smoking and educate your teen about this too.
Be clear on the consequences - Parents can choose to restrict their teens' access to the internet, revoke phone privileges, reduce their allowance, or set an earlier curfew if they catch their teens smoking or smelling of cigarette smoke. Discuss these rules with your teen beforehand so that they know what's waiting for them if they wilfully disobey house rules.
Talk to your teen - Punishments for teens can only go so far. Time will come when teens will eventually grow out of their fear of being punished by parents and realize that they can smoke if they want to. The best way to dissuade teens from smoking is to talk to them. It may be a series of talks, it may take a long time, but talking to them and telling them why you're so concerned about their smoking habits.
Talk their language - At this stage in their life, teens are very concerned about how they look, how they smell, and how people perceive them. It may be helpful to tell your teen about how teenage smoking will eventually ruin their skin, their teeth, and give them chronic halitosis. Talking to them about heart condition, cancer, emphysema and other illnesses may have an effect, but young people don't really tend to take these seriously because they don't feel the effects of smoking as much as older people do.
As mentioned earlier, one of the best ways to help your teen quit smoking is to not smoke yourself. If you do smoke, seeing your doctor and asking for ways to help make quitting easier for you will help. It's also important to keep cigarettes where your teen won't reach them, and to not smoke where they will see you. A parent's example is a lot more compelling than their lectures will ever be.