So, the NHS have launched a new ad campaign aimed at getting parents to stop smoking, and it’s making me a little bit sad. They are using real children to make public appeals on TV, asking their parents to stop smoking.
I have to admit, I see a parent smoking around their child, and I judge them for it… I know it’s hard to quit the habit but isn’t having a child motivation enough?! These adverts show how much it affects a child to have a smoking parent – I went on the Department of Health website and found the information about the ad campaign, and the numbers are startling.
According to the figures, almost three-quarters of children with a smoking parent worry about the risk of their parent dying… that is a big weight on a kid’s shoulders! Almost a third of children admitted to hiding their parent’s cigarettes in an attempt to make them quit, and over a third would give up their Christmas presents if they would quit! It makes me quite emotional to think about children worrying this much about their parent’s smoking, and knowing the figures behind the ads doesn’t make them any easier to watch.
I know someone who was asked to give up smoking by their kids, and managed it… only to return to the habit secretly after he’d successfully kicked it, just because he enjoyed it so much. I don’t know why he made that decision, but it’s worrying that some parents will go on smoking even when they aren’t even addicted, when they know how aware their children are of the habit. And as Kate pointed out, a lot of kids will go on to smoke themselves, even though they hate their parents doing it – we are a society that learns by example.
Of course, there is also the issue of second-hand smoking, which is an entirely different problem to the emotional impact a smoking parent has on children. Adults who choose to smoke in front of children aren’t just setting a bad example and making them worry about their parent’s health, they are actually hurting the children themselves.
But is it right to use children this way in advertising? It’s certainly effective – I don’t even smoke and they have provoked an emotional response… how guilty must this make some smoking parents feel – and is that morally correct to use their own children against them? But if it makes people give up smoking, is it justified? It’s a hard question to answer. I really don’t know. Part of me thinks that it’s just way too manipulative, but on the other hand if it works the ends could justify the means.
If you want to give up smoking and need some help, you can order a quit kit online, or find more information on the smokefree website.
