Some smoke in front of their children at home; others even send their kids to nearby shops to buy them cigarettes. At the same time, these parents advise their children not to smoke.
As parents are supposed to be role models to their children, the little ones lose confidence in them when they see this contradiction.
Many awareness campaigns against smoking notwithstanding, the role of parents in fighting this negative habit remains very important.
According to statistics from 2007 on smoking among youths, jointly compiled by the Health Ministry’s Tobacco Control Program and the World Health Organization, 27.7 percent of the adolescents surveyed tried smoking at some point in their lives. In addition, 8.7 percent smoked sheesha and 8.6 percent smoked cigarettes.
According to the same survey, 29.4 percent lived at home with smokers, and 24 percent had one or two parents smoking. No less than 73 percent of the respondents believed that smoking should be banned in public places.
Eman Mukhtar, a Saudi widow and mother of five who used to smoke, said her husband died as a result of heart problems caused by smoking. She said that all her children smoked because of their father.
“My husband used to warn my children about the dangers of smoking, but at the same time he smoked in front of them. They were not convinced by his advice and always asked him why he smoked if it was dangerous. The result is that they became smokers, and I could not convince them to stop,” said Mukhtar.
She said that smoking parents should be aware of this problem and never smoke in front of their kids.
An 11-year-old child, who did not want his name to be mentioned, said that he felt his parents were selfish.
His father smoked at home in front of them, thus putting their health in danger, and his mother did not interfere, he said.
“When I told my father about the dangers of smoking, I got smacked in the face,” said the child.
He said that his father even sent him to the nearby store to buy cigarettes.
“My mother always threatened me with punishment if I ever smoked, but she never had the courage to tell my father not to smoke.”
A number of shop owners interviewed said that many underage kids were coming to the store to buy cigarettes for their parents.
One shop owner recounted his experience when he refused to sell cigarettes to a child who was sent by his father. Ten minutes later, the father came to the shop, demanding to know why the owner had refused to sell cigarettes to his son.
Dr. Jamal Abdullah Basahi of the Tobacco Control Department at the Ministry of Health said there were no studies about the effect of smoking parents on their children.
The effects, he said, could be divided into three kinds: general health effects, secondhand smoking and psychological effects.
According to Basahi, children hide their sadness deep inside when seeing their parents smoking.
