Second Hand Smoke and Children

Second hand smoke and children are two things that should not be mixed together. In today's society, I feel that most people are sadly just not educated enough to actually know how harmful second hand smoke is, especially when it comes to parents of children. These parent smokers are more or less abusing and sometimes even killing their own children. But they just do not know the truth and sometimes fail to come to reality about the truths of second hand smoke. Though second hand smoke hurts anyone one way or another, more than pollutants outside even do, they have the biggest effect on children who are not as strong and do not have the antibodies that older people possess.

By smoking around one's child, you can decrease the child's lung efficiency and even impair its function. This is why most children who develop asthma have parents who smoke. Everyone knows how kids always seem to get those horrible coughs and post nasal drip. Well, children of parents that smoke get these far more often and to a more severe extent. If a parent smokes around a child under two , the effects on the child are even more overwhelming. A large percentage of children two and under get put into hospitals for pneumonia or bronchitis, and some even loose their hearing as inhaled smoke irritates the eustachian tube.

As a child, I grew up around my father who smoked practically non-stop. I do not feel any resentment for him clearly for the fact that I feel that most people are not aware of the actual dangers second hand smoke has on other people, including their children. Though I had my usual colds that all children had, I feel that I was always pretty healthy and do not think his smoking had too much of an effect on me. Will it later on in the road? Possibly. Perhaps, as I get older, my lungs may not be as strong particularly because of the damage my father caused to them from second hand smoke.

I think it would be nearly impossible to fully ban parents from smoking around their children. However, I think it is clear that younger children are harmed more by second hand smoke and I think that a law should be passed concerning this age group. The law could be as simple as parents/or anyone can not smoke within a certain number of feet ( perhaps 20 feet) of a child 5 years or younger. This law would help educate society that second hand smoke is harmful especially for children. It will encourage parents to smoke outside and be considerate to their whole family and not just their youngster. I feel it would be utterly impossible to ban second hand smoke completely without making cigarette smoking illegal.