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Parental monitoring of a child's life can help protect him or her from smoking
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Strict parental upbringing will help protect the younger generation from such a bad habit as smoking. This is the conclusion reached by employees of Georgetown University, while the ethnicity of the family did not have much significance. Scientists observed the lives of more than 400 teenagers (with the consent of their parents), whose average age was about 13 years. Scientists conducted a series of surveys about smoking (in particular, whether the students' parents smoke), what styles of upbringing and punishment systems are used in each specific family.
After conducting the surveys, the specialists observed the lives of the children selected for the study for four years, and as it turned out, children from families where there was increased control from their parents did not even try smoking. Scientists have long determined that most people who smoke throughout their lives became addicted to this harmful habit before the age of 18.
By strict parental control, scientists mean establishing clear rules in the house, a curfew, and a certain time for the child to go to bed. In addition, it is necessary to establish a certain punishment for violating the established rules, in particular, if cigarettes are found on the child or he tries to smoke. According to experts, this approach to education works much better than an understanding and more loyal attitude.
Psychologists are sure that it is impossible to completely avoid prohibitions in the process of raising a child. As children grow up, they encounter a generally accepted system of prohibitions. If parents deliberately delay introducing the child to this system, then it is more difficult for the child to form his own idea of the real world in which he will have to live, sooner or later.
As Cassandra Stanton, the head of this study, noted, in the past numerous projects have studied a variety of parenting styles in the family. However, it is the results of this project that showed how certain parenting strategies help protect the younger generation from a bad habit, since it is the parents and their attitude to the upbringing and future of their children that play a predominant role in this.
Cassandra Stantoe believes that following clearly established rules, strict control and a system of punishment for disobedience will protect teenagers from uninhibited behavior, as well as from the serious consequences of such behavior. In order to prevent teenagers from “getting acquainted” with nicotine for the sake of simple entertainment and further addiction to a bad habit, parents should adhere to strict parenting tactics and more control over their child’s daily life. However, as Patrick Heather, from the research center of the National Cancer Institute, noted, strict control should not be excessive, as this will lead to tense relationships between parents and children, in addition, too strict control contributes to the development of stress and mental disorders in teenagers.
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