PDA

View Full Version : Good kids get fags as reward



gmb45
18th May, 2009, 06:11 AM
CHILDREN as young as NINE are becoming hooked on cigarettes ? given to them by their parents as a reward.

More and more youngsters are being sent to stop-smoking specialists to help them quit.

Shocked nurses in the North West of England say some children are given the cigarettes by their parents as a reward for GOOD behaviour.

And in one instance a nine-year-old boy was found to become angry in primary school class because he had not had his nicotine fix.

Fashionable

Now pupils determined to kick the habit are making brightly-coloured replacement nicotine inhalers fashionable in the playground.

Health visitors attended schools in Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, Lancs, to assess the problem.

Ann Eastwood, young persons? stop smoking co-ordinator for NHS East Lancashire, said: ?The youngest we have coming to us are usually 11 or 12, but there was a case with a boy in Blackburn whose teacher called the service because he was so addicted that he was becoming twitchy and aggressive in lessons just because he hadn?t had a cigarette.

?In a lot of cases parents don?t know and children don?t want them to, but in some instances, parents not only know but actually give them cigarettes as a reward for good behaviour.?

She added: ?That is really shocking, but if the children are coming to us, it gives us a way in to help all the family.?

Advisers are unable to give one-to-one sessions to those younger than 12 unless their parents are involved.

The nine-year-old boy, who did not want his parents to know he was smoking, was given advice through a class discussion.

Advertisement

Stop-smoking co-ordinator Christine Donnelly said: ?It is sad that children this young are smoking, but it is incredibly frustrating when parents are encouraging it.

East Lancashire has some of the highest smoking rates in the UK, with 90 per cent of smokers lighting up before they were 25.

The children are encouraged to make a smoking diary to identify the times and situations when they smoke, helping them to cut down.

Heavy smokers are given inhalators as nicotine patches are too dangerous for children to use.

Mrs Eastwood added: ?We get two or three children all wanting to quit together and getting matching coloured inhalators.?