Second-hand Smoke
Parents who smoke around their children in enclosed areas are inadvertently committing child abuse. Child abuse is normally associated with physical abuse such as beating, sexual abuse, or neglect; however, smoking in an enclosed area and exposing a child to second-hand smoke can be just as dangerous.
Second-hand smoke has many bad effects on health. It contains more than four thousand chemicals; many of these, such as carbon monoxide, nicotine, ammonia, and tar, are strong irritants to human tissues and organs. In fact, more than forty of them are known to cause cancer, and second-hand smoke is considered a Class A carcinogen (cancer-causing agent), ranked with such substances as radon and asbestos. Furthermore, many of the chemicals in second-hand smoke can damage cell DNA. Second-hand smoke can even cause Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Because children’s lungs are not fully developed, exposure to these irritants leads to an increased risk of damage. Children exposed to second-hand smoke are more likely to have reduced lung functioning and symptoms such as asthma, coughing, sore throat, and hoarseness. Furthermore, children exposed to second-hand smoke have more respiratory infections, such as bronchitis and pneumonia, than do other children. Exposure to second-hand smoke can also lead to middle-ear infections, and can even hinder lung growth.
It is a parent’s duty to protect their children from harm. However, by smoking in enclosed areas, a parent actually inflicts harm on their child. According to James Garbarino, an internationally recognized expert on child protection, more young children are killed by parental smoking than by all unintentional injuries combined. Parents are free to choose to smoke outside, where the smoke will not harm their children; however, in choosing not to, they choose convenience over the well-being of their children. Second-hand smoke is so dangerous that willingly exposing one’s children to it is nothing less than abuse.
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