Saturday, May 17, 2008

Stop smoking in front of your kids. Period.

I don't usually do this, but I want to share with my fellow political bloggers something I wrote for my other blog, Respiratory Therapy Cave.

This is an issue that could be discussed in ethics class at some lengths. Or, better yet, a great topic for Stupid People 101.

What do stupid people do? Stupid people smoke in front of their kids, that's what they do.

I'm so sick and tired of taking care of kids because their parents are too stupid to know better. Kids do not know any better, and therefore it is the responsibility of parents to create a safe, clean and healthy environment for their kids.

Smoking in front of your kids is not safe, clean nor healthy. In fact, it is just plane stupid and irresponsible. It may have been acceptable 50 years ago because people didn't know any better, but there is so much information out there, there are no more excuses for this kind of stupidity and ignorance.

The fact is, smoking in front of little boys and girls is hazardous to their health if they have healthy little lungs, let alone bad lungs already.

I'm not a fan of making a laws just because, but I'd be willing to make an exception for a law to make it illegal to smoke in front of kids. Then I could take half the mom's who bring kids to the hospital and put them away for 30-90 days for causing their kids to get sick. Maybe that's what's needed to knock some sense into them.

Tonight I took care of yet another little boy who was having an asthma attack. And I didn't even need to ask my usual 101 questions to know the mom smoked in front of her child, as they both smelled of smoke. Yet I asked anyway, and the answer was a nonchalant, "Yes."

Pathetic, I say. Just pathetic. Pure stupid.

Is there any way possible that any parent in existence in the United States today can possibly not know how stupid it is to smoke in front of their kids, let alone a kid with asthma.

You sit there and watch your kid have an asthma attack. You love your child so much that you take him to the ER when he is having an attack, yet you don't know enough to not smoke in front of him. How stupid. How stupid you are.

Let this peon of an RT tell you something: If you want to ruin your own lungs and your own life by smoking, you have that choice. Your son doesn't have the same choices you have. He has to live in the atmosphere you create.

It's your job to protect him. Do not destroy his life too. Don't smoke in front of him.

That is the thought of the day. Thoughts anyone.

10 comments:

DB said...

You hit the nail on the head for sure. If you can't beat the living crap out of a kid inflicting wounds that take merely a few months to heal, why are people allowed to smoke in front of kids that can give them a lifetime of health issues? On top of that, I am still surprised that in this day in age, knowing that the major cause of the leading cause of death is...smoking. I am in total agreement.

namaste said...

i completely agree with this post! i smoke occasionally, but have NEVER done so in front of my kids. i am blown away when i see a driver with kids in the car having a cigarette.

and now, to read this post and learn that kids are brought to the e.r. because of this?! that's just madness. i can't believe that there is no repercussion involving social service. asthma can lead to death just as cancer can. *sigh* i can only imagine how frustrating your job must be.

Nikki said...

so this is why you are a stupidpersonophobe...I get it! I have a friend whose parents smoked growing up and to this day the smell of smoke makes her nausiated...her parents have since quit but she is avidly against smoking period...especially watching her parents health deteriorate very quickly. She nor her syblings have any health problems at the moment which is pure luck. I did read somewhere that smoking is one of the major causes of SIDS, you probably know more about that. great post good vent! :)N

Righty64 said...

Well, my father died from lung cancer. Smoke Chesterfield, no-filter cigs for 40+ years. I myself smoke a cigar on an occasion. Maybe 3-5 times a year. BUT I WOULD NEVER think to smoke in front of kids. It is like swearing. I may do it, but not in front of kids. We are the only true role models kids have. And, while we are not perfect, we should do our best to set an example, even when are short. But, I do not want the government getting involved the way they are here in California. That is a dangerous road.

Rick Frea said...

You're right, Righty64. I agree it would be a dangerous road for the gov. to get involved. After all, people have a right to be stupid.

As I see these kids who are sick because of their parents, it's tempting to let liberalism bite. I understand how so many people fall into that trap.

So, I ask this question: how do we get parents to be more responsible around their kids?

Or, is it none of our business?

Khaki Elephant said...

Great post!
I am shamed to admit that I smoke a cigar every once in a while, but never in front of my kids. For all they know, my lungs are as clean as a whistle. I don't consider it hypocracy . . . I also try not to swear in front of them, even while watching a CNN story on Obama.

Righty64 said...

It is a good question, Freadom, about what do we do. I think that to keep impressing on parents how it is not a good thing is one way. One thing that the state of California does do, and while I get grossed by it and it is a bit over the top, is the televison ads against smoking. And of course it is a matter of constant education and reminding, reminding, reminding. I share your frustration. But, as the Great Man, President Reagan once said, a government that is big enough to "give" rights is big enough to take away "rights". So, we have to be very cautious about how far we want the government to get involved in this.

Rick Frea said...

True indeed.

Khaki Elephant said...

Ah, I'm glad that I opened this one to read the comments before going to bed. It's always great to read a Reagan quote!

a government that is big enough to "give" rights is big enough to take away "rights".

Amen, righty64. Amen.

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