Parents

As parents, you play a vital role in preventing your children from using tobacco products and nicotine products. You serve as role models and exert a strong influence through your attitude and behavior. Your presence and the quality of your relationship with your child have a significant impact on their development and their physical and mental health.

There’s no such thing as a perfect parent. What matters most is finding your own way and supporting your child as best you can. The key is to be consistent in what you say and do, and to acknowledge your mistakes and limitations. Self-reflection is part of your role as a parent. It helps open a conversation with your child or the whole family about each person’s role, strengths, and weaknesses, and find a balance together.

Your Role as Parents

Even as your child gradually becomes more independent, your role remains essential in guiding them through their decisions and answering their questions.

You can:

foster an atmosphere of open, nonjudgmental dialogue;
establish clear, consistent, and age-appropriate guidelines for your child;
convey values, guidelines, and reliable information;
help your teenager develop critical thinking skills when faced with various sources of influence (friends, social media, marketing);
Recognize warning signs while respecting your child’s growing independence.

Parenting, however, has its limits

During adolescence, teenagers are trying to assert themselves and may hide certain habits from their parents as they become more independent.
Peer pressure, curiosity, and marketing strategies have a significant influence.
It’s not always easy to broach a sensitive topic without encountering resistance.

You are not alone: professionals, online resources, and specialist services can provide you with support and guidance when you’re facing difficulties. You’ll find various resources below.

Contextual Characteristics

It’s not easy to talk to a teenager about sensitive topics like tobacco or nicotine use. It’s important to take their reality and experiences into account and to listen to them in order to establish a realistic and supportive dialogue.

Adolescence is a time of intense physical, hormonal, emotional, and social changes. These changes can lead to a desire to experiment and take risks. Because their brains are still developing, adolescents are more sensitive to nicotine and at higher risk of nicotine dependence.

Furthermore, young people live in an environment filled with information from a wide variety of sources, some of which may even be contradictory. Tobacco and nicotine products come in many forms, are appealing, and are heavily marketed to young people, particularly through social media. As a result, adolescents are often exposed to them, for example:

peer pressure and social norms;
marketing strategies that trivialize or promote these products;
misconceptions about the actual risks of tobacco products, such as “it’s natural,” “it helps you relax,” or “it’s less risky.”

The resources available on this site are designed to support parents and professionals by providing reliable information and tools for addressing the issue of consumption of tobacco products.

Learn more

Adolescence

Best Practices

Be present and available:

Take an interest in your child’s hobbies, passions, and relationships without judging them;
Encourage regular communication in an atmosphere of open listening and respect;
Listen before giving advice: understand what your teen is actually thinking, feeling, and experiencing.

Show kindness while setting boundaries:

Bring up the subject early and often, rather than waiting for a problem to arise;
Be firm on safety: say no to a dangerous or unsuitable project;
Be consistent with each other as parents in the messages you convey;
Make sure your words and actions are consistent.

Establish rules through a participatory process while making the most of its resources:

Set constructive rules and boundaries, as well as consequences, in consultation with your teenager during adolescence;
Adjust the rules according to age and situation;
Highlight their strengths: Encourage their trust in themselves and their ability to make decisions or turn down a proposal. Help them identify stress management strategies to build their resilience;
Encourage critical thinking when it comes to marketing, online challenges, or the normalization of tobacco and nicotine.

I’m a parent and I smoke—how should I handle this?

Be mindful of your own consumption (where you consume it, in front of your child, secondhand smoke);
Apply the rules you’ve established at home to yourself.

Practices to Avoid

Certain behaviors can make dialogue more difficult. Practices to avoid include:

to dramatize, moralize, or make someone feel guilty;
to interrogate or monitor in an intrusive manner;
downplaying the risks or not talking about them;
to have excessive reactions during experiments;
to threaten sanctions without actually imposing them.

How should we talk about tobacco products and nicotine products?

To address the topic of tobacco products and nicotine products:

Learn more so you can provide factual information that is appropriate for your child’s age;
Find a natural, relaxed moment (while watching a movie, when you see a tobacco advertisement, or based on a real-life situation);
Ask open-ended questions: “What do you think? ”;
Express your concerns in a caring way (use “I” statements): “I’m worried about you because…”;
Remind people of the risks of tobacco consumption.

Talking about it—a few examples:

“I’ve noticed that you smoke, and I’d like to talk to you about it.”
“How do you feel when you smoke a cigarette or take a puff?”
“What made you want to try it?”
“I’d like to talk about the fact that you smoke, because I’m worried about your health.”
“What can I do for you / to help you?”

If you use tobacco products or nicotine products yourself:

Speak honestly about your consumption and its implications in daily life, particularly your own contradictions regarding consumption;
Talk openly about the effects of tobacco and nicotine on your health;
Share your experience, including any difficulties you may have had in quitting or cutting back on your use.

Key messages to convey

Tobacco products seriously harm the health of persons who use or consume them and those around them (secondhand smoke).
Tobacco products and nicotine products cause dependence, and nicotine impairs brain development in adolescents.
Electronic cigarettes / e-cigarettes, hookahs, and smoke-free nicotine products are not risk-free either and can cause health problems.
Smoking can cause bad breath, tooth discoloration, and a decline in physical performance even in the short term. The tobacco industry specifically targets young people, which can make these tobacco products more appealing to adolescents.