According to MSNBC, the boy’s father, Mohammed Rizal, was quoted as saying “I'm not worried about his health, he looks healthy. He cries and throws tantrums when we don't let him smoke. He's addicted."
Apparently, this is not the first video to surface on YouTube of Indonesian children smoking. It is apparently a growing problem there, prompting the Chairman of Indonesia's child protection commission, Seto Mulyadi, to assign blame for the spike in young children smoking on aggressive advertising and parents who are smokers. He has said that "a law to protect children and passive smokers should be introduced immediately in this country."
Tragically, the tobacco industry worldwide has a long record of aggressive and disproportionate marketing to minority communities and youth. Tough anti-tobacco regulations are required to restrict it in order to educate the public and encourage a shift in social norms around tobacco.
Parents are also responsible because their children look to them as role models and as long as they smoke, it doubles the odds of their children following suit. This Father’s Day, we encourage parents to use this as a teachable moment. If you are a parent who smokes, you not only set a deadly example for those you love most, you also expose them to dangerous secondhand smoke, to which we know from the US Surgeon General that there are no safe levels of exposure.
For information on the top ten things you can do as a parent to keep your children from smoking, please see this handy list: http://www.legacyforhealth.org/3585.aspx.
Adding years to your life and safeguarding your family’s health is the single best thing you can do for your children. I quit smoking myself on Mother’s Day and if you’re a father who wants to use Father’s Day to do the same, please visit www.BecomeAnEX.org for all the free tools you’ll need to do it successfully. Happy Father’s Day!
0 comments:
Post a Comment