Parents, have you talked to your kids about vaping nicotine yet?
If you have an older kid or a teenager, it’s likely they will encounter e-cigarettes at some point. They often contain more nicotine than regular cigarettes, which makes them highly addictive (and harmful to health). And with fruit and candy flavors, they’re marketed in a way that’s appealing to teens.
You can help protect your child from vaping by being “the first person to have that conversation with them. It’s in their benefit to hear what your expectations are,” says Dr. Deepa Camenga, a pediatrician and addiction medicine specialist with the Yale School of Medicine.
Start talking to your children about vaping early
Start these conversations before children reach their teenage years, says Camenga. Young kids are often exposed to vaping through the media, observing it in public or seeing their friends do it. Use that exposure to open up a dialogue in age-appropriate ways.
For an elementary school-aged child: Ask them if they’ve heard about e-cigarettes or vaping in health class in school, and if so, what they learned about them. Then explain that e-cigarettes contain a lot of dangerous chemicals that can hurt your brain and body.
For a middle schooler: Start the conversation by explaining that you read an article about how some middle schoolers are using vapes. Then ask if they’ve ever seen anyone vape at school and what they think about that
For teens: As they get older, share more details about its health impacts. Vaping is linked to wheezing symptoms and lung injuries, says Camenga. Some substances found in e-cigarette aerosols have been linked to an increased risk for cancer. And we don’t know the long-term effects of vaping on adolescent health and development, she adds.
Set expectations
Make your expectations clear to your child that they won’t vape. Camenga says you might say, “I know you might see kids vaping at school or on the bus. E-cigarettes are super addictive and contain a lot of unhealthy and dangerous chemicals. I love you and want you to always be healthy. So I want to make sure you understand the risks so you can make healthy choices.”
Help them figure out strategies to avoid vaping
That could include making an excuse to get out of a social situation where other kids are vaping, coming up with ways to turn down someone who offers them a vape or changing the topic of conversation, says Camenga.
If your discover your child is vaping, stay calm
When you get upset, yell or confront your child in an aggressive manner, it can send the message that you don’t care and it decreases their ability to hear you, says Camenga.
The calmer you are, the likelier your child will talk to you and be open to suggestions, she says. Make sure they know they have your support by saying something like, “How can I help? I noticed this and I’m concerned about it.”
What to do if your child is addicted to e-cigarettes and wants to quit
Using a vape a few times doesn’t mean your child is addicted. But the more they vape, the more likely they are to get addicted. Signs of a vaping addiction include wanting to quit but continuing to vape anyway, feeling anxious or irritable when they can’t vape, thinking about vaping when doing other activities and feeling like they’ve lost control over how much they vape.
If your child tells you they want to quit, affirm their decision and tell them you will support them through this ordeal, says Camenga.
Excerpted from “Parents, It’s Time to Talk to Your Child About Vaping” from NPR. Read the full article online for more details. You can also listen to the digital story, below.
Source: NPR | Parents, It’s Time to Talk to Your Child About Vaping, https://www.npr.org/2024/04/09/1196979016/how-to-talk-to-your-child-about-vaping-ecigarettes?ft=nprml&f=1030 | © 2024 npr
