Do Smokers Really Care about Their Children?-00-505

So many times you see this horrible sight: A woman with a toddler or a baby on the hip, smoking. In a few years she will probably take that same child to pieces for smoking, yet right now she is forcing that child to smoke. You will note that most women doing this also smoked during pregnancy.

There are many situations that force children to inhale smoke against their will. You may call on a child to help you hold something, while you keep the cigarette on your mouth. You may light one inside the car as you are traveling. You may simply decide to give your child a hug while still holding on to it. In all of these situations, the child is forced to inhale smoke. Even if not against his/her will, it is still not healthy.

The most horrific injustice, however, lies in smoking during pregnancy. The unborn baby is fed nicotine at a stage when the lungs are not even functional yet. The child has no say in the matter, and no way to escape the substance.

Keep in mind that the effects of smoking on children have been clinically and statistically proven. Up until the age of eighteen years of age, smoking has (among other effects) a negative effect on the development of the brain. Also keep in mind that a young child has a much smaller lung capacity than a grown person, and the effect of any substance introduced will be much more profound as a result of it.

No human being has the right to force another person to take any substance against his/her will, or without his/her knowledge. It is the same as someone putting drugs in your drink. The fact that you do not know about it does not make it right.