Stopping a Teen Smoking

nearlyrich

15 year olds feel they are immortal...

JodyBPM

I don't think you can, sorry.

I do think that smoking is less socially acceptable nowadays though, and that he may well listen to peer pressure and grow up and out of it at some point.

But at 15 he's probably going to take little notice of his mum not liking him smoking.

Let him know you don't agree with it, and don't let him smoke in the house etc. But, tbh if smoking is the worst thing your teen does its not the end of the world. There is much worse he could be doing. Hopefully he will see the light, and give up as he matures.

mountainofdebt

I think JodyBPM has hit the nail on the head.....you don't have to like what he's doing but unless you're going to chain him to you for every second of the day, he will find an opportunity to have a smoke as he will find the funds from somewhere.

I don't think asking about what he wants played at his funeral is very helpful either becuase he will always know someone whose grandfather has smoked since he was knee high to a grasshopper and is still going strong

tbh I think it boils down to whether his friends smoke - none of the people that I was friends with, when I was his age, smoked and none of Junior's friends smoke - and I think that plays a big part in it.

You don't have to make his life pleasant - I totally agree with the no smoking in the house. Couldn't his dad have a word with your son about his illness -not in a 'this is going to happen to you' but 'this what happened to me and this is what I've had to go through' sort of way?

RedBern

busiscoming2 wrote: »

He gets an allowance at the moment of £30 per month, £10 of which is spent on his phone top up.

And he sets fire to some of the other £20? We cut our youngest lad's allowance when we found he was smoking. It didn't stop him completely but it made it very difficult for him.

littlerat

bylromarha wrote: »

I smoked when young and my mum got me to quit.

She bought me a packet of 20 and told me that if I could smoke one after the other I would have her blessing.

I threw up after fag 11 and didn't smoke again for a good few years - even then it was a social fag once every few months.

I'd go with this method - I know of a couple who had this done (one with an offer they'd buy a pack a week) - all gave up :rotfl:


Ultimately, at 15 though, if that doesn't work, stop trying to make him - smoking isn't cool like it once was, a lot of his peers will call him idiots for it, and the more you pressure him to stop the more determined he's going to be to keep doing it. I'm not saying don't cut his allowance, but if you keep bringing it up he may well keep doing it just because it annoys you.

Kitten_Pie

I smoked when I was younger and can't think of anything that would have made me stop. I stopped a few years ago when me and my husband (non-smoker) decided to get married as I didn't want to be a bride with a fag in mouth. We then decided to start a family.

When my parents found out (both smokers) they accepted it reluctantly and let me smoke in the house. That was my down fall, I had gone from sneaking around having a couple a day to being able to smoke in the house and almost chain smoking.

Only suggestion I have is to let him know that you are disappointed and don't want him to smoke around you. Hopefully this will at least limit it and make it easier when he does want to quit.

I understand they cost about £7 a packet now for 20. I used to buy 10 for less than £2.

lollipopsarah

Dare I ask who is buying the fags for him?
(Being illegal to sell/buy fags for under 18's - if it's a friend/family member then maybe you could have a quiet word with them)
My dear mum know we smoked as kids (in the woods) as we used hide a pack of 10 under a bush, and when it rained she used to take it in and then put back later (I only heard about this years later).
She could have made a song and dance about it but didn't, she hoped we would grow out of it.
I can't offer advise really but in your position might be tempted to only give an allowance for the 'phone (maybe save the difference in a special account) and tell him if he want's to waste his money then jolly well get a job and burn his own cash.
Best wished and good luck.
xx

julie03

you cant stop him if all his friends smoke, my son smokes and i have tried loads of things, including sending him halfway down the road if he wanted a ciggie as i didnt want it anywhere near the house, he had no money, he would go into town and just ask various people or his mates.

he still smokes at 18, you can only hope one day they see sense

Kitten_Pie

Lollipopsarah,

When I was 12 the legal age was 16, I was still able to purchase from shops. They aren't as vigilant as you would hope/think.

psychopathbabble

busiscoming2 wrote: »

To cut a long story short, my 15yo DS2 is smoking and has been for at least a year. It would seem he stopped when he was going out with his last girlfriend as she hated it. He says he didn't do it all for about 4 months. He is quite open about talking about it to us (not in a bragging way). He knows how anti it I am and his father has suffered from a dreadful illness that was smoking related (he no longer smokes).

He says he likes doing it but doesn't know why he does it.

I am going to stop his allowance but other than that is there anything I can do to stop him?

To be honest, if he has seen his father suffer from a smoking-related illness and continues to smoke, then I don't think you can do much.

I have heard of others who have been forced to chainsmoke a whole packet though and it seems to work as a deterrent in most cases.

I hope you find a resolution