This post was sponsored by Tobacco Free New York State as part of an influencer activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.
As a mom to an almost-thirteen-year-old, smoking is something that, unfortunately, is on my mind these days. I occasionally see kids in our area with e-cigarettes and I shudder at the fact that one day my daughter may be one of those kids. Being a parent to a soon-to-be-teenager is tricky; I am not trying to be her friend but I also don’t want to be too strict and have her rebel. I do occasionally discuss with her the harmful effects of smoking and tobacco use. The fact that the average age of a new smoker in NY State is 13 only adds to my anxiety. Out of Sight – Out of Mind: Let’s Get Tobacco Products Away from Our Kids
I can’t control what my daughter does during her days at school and I have no idea what she does at recess and lunch break. I do know some kids leave the campus (which is shared by the high school) and go to the nearest convenience store, where they are exposed to a plethora of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products. There are also talks of yet another convenience store that may open across the street from my daughter’s school – this is something other parents in my neighborhood are worried about. We simply don’t want our kids having access to buying e-cigarettes or even just looking at the tobacco products.
E-cigarettes are something new to me but now as a mom of a middle-schooler I am educating myself about the statistics. Did you know that between 2014-2018 the use of e-cigarettes grew by 160% among high schoolers? And this is not just in high schools – I hear moms from middle schools in our area complaining of kids vaping in the school restrooms. Let’s face it, it’s an epidemic and it’s time to do something about our kids’ exposure to e-cigarettes in convenience stores!
The new initiative, Seen Enough Tobacco, by Tobacco Free New York State, is doing just that – getting parents to pledge against convenience stores displaying tobacco-related products at places where young kids can see them. The more kids see tobacco, the likelier they are to start smoking. We can control what we do at home but when Big Tobacco is spending billions of dollars shoving tobacco in front of our kids’ faces, are we going to just sit there and accept it?!
Sign the pledge to get tobacco out of sight in stores.
- Tobacco Free New York State Site: http://www.tobaccofreenys.org/
- Tobacco Free New York State Facebook:
- http:///www.facebook.com/tobaccofreenys
- Tobacco Free New York State Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/tobaccofreenys
- Tobacco Free New York State Twitter:
- http://www.twitter.com/tobaccofreenys
Out of Sight – Out of Mind: Let’s Get Tobacco Products Away from Our Kids | The Mama Maven Blog
Senior Reviewer Maytal Wichman is a freelance writer and has written for several blogs, including The Huffington Post. She has been living in the New York City area for eighteen years and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature as well as a Law Degree, but blogging is her true passion. Maytal is a stay-at-home mom to three kids (ages 12, 10 and 6) and loves finding great products for her family.
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