When I was growing up, my dad was a smoker. He was not one of those people who smoked a cigarette every once in a while. He smoked more than a packet a day. For my dad, smoking was a manly thing. Although my mom never smoked and my older sister fought with him about for years, he kept on smoking, even at home, right in front to us. He had no intention of stopping. His excuse was, “I’ve been smoking for years. I can’t stop now”.
One day, he found out that my brother, who was about 16 years old, had smoked some of his cigarettes. He freaked out! I remember that day. He was furious. He ran around screaming like a crazy man. Then, my sister, who was 17 years old at the time, said something to him that changed his perspective completely. She said, “How can you tell him smoking is bad for him if you keep smoking yourself?”
My dad was about 45 years old then. After smoking for over 25 years and thinking he could not stop, he stopped immediately. My dad is 82 years old today and is a very healthy person. I thank my sister for her strong statement.
Kids can make a big difference in the fight against smoking. It is believed to be the best anti-smoking campaign to hear it from kids.
Here is a video that shows an anti-smoking campaign that was very successful in Thailand. I hope many countries in the world will adopt it.
Best anti-smoking ad campaign ever – the child incentive
Be happy and smoke free,
Ronit
