After ruining the health of millions, smoking finally got an alternative – vaping. But, even this turned out to be harmful.
What’s worse about vaping is that it has spread like an epidemic and engulfed most kids in its notoriously spun web. Kids can easily access vapes and indulge in this harmful habit mainly to look cool among their friends.
7 Ways To Help Your Teen Quit Vaping
At such a young age, it is impossible for them to understand the health implications of vaping by themselves.
Hence, parental intervention and guidance become of paramount importance. The question is how to approach the process of getting them to quit vaping.
We will help you maneuver through this difficult ride by elucidating effective strategies that can free your teens from the infectious grip of vaping addiction.
1. Don’t Start With A Lecture
As a parent, it is very difficult to see your kid involved in such a harmful habit but you should resist every urge in your body to lecture them. Criticism does not work on teens most of the time. You have to deal with the situation delicately because kids turn very rebellious during their teen years and tend to do the opposite of what they are told.
This means grounding your kid and taking away e-cigarettes by force is not going to work. They will take this as a challenge and find other means to fulfill their needs.
2. Educate Yourself About Vaping
Before you set out to help your kid quit vaping, you must know about vaping in and out. For instance, the reason why vapes have become popular, the risks of vaping, and its long-term effects on a person’s health. This information will assist you in prepping concrete answers if your kid gives illogical arguments in his/her defense.
When you have all the information prepared for the further process, you can have more informed and constructive conversations with teens.
3. Talk Openly
It is essential to lead the conversation with an unbiased outlook. Don’t hesitate to communicate about vaping with inexperienced teenagers. They have been doing it and you have read all about it, this means you can have an open conversation with them. After addressing the concerns about vaping, let your child lead the dialogue for a more constructive outcome.
Give supporting nods and encourage them to speak their heart out without giving a criticizing look. Don’t blame them for their behavior or annoying habits.
4. Offer Solutions
Once you are satisfied that your kid has nothing more to say and is in a space to listen, offer them better alternatives to vaping. Of course, there are no direct substitutes for vaping suitable for teens. So, you ask them to indulge in physical activities like sports or swimming or encourage them to pursue their hobbies to seek a distraction.
5. Make It About Your Child’s Health
Don’t attach a social stigma to vaping, and don’t bring any other aspects to the conversation apart from the health of your child. Forget society and your image for now. Communicate to your child that his/her health gains the top position in your priorities. Focus the conversation on your child’s well-being.
Once kids are convinced that you want them to quit vaping for their own good, they might relinquish this habit for personal growth.
6. Talk To A Professional
If your teen is resistant to your ideas, the best approach is to seek a professional’s help. There is no harm in taking them to a professional who can help them quit. Sometimes, it is difficult for teens to understand stuff by themselves. Expert counseling can give them a broader outlook on the issue and make them more compassionate.
Read More:- How Nutrition Affects Teen’s Mental Health? All You Need To Know!
7. Make Them Join Support Groups
If your kid is ready, there are plenty of support groups that can assist through the quitting process of vaping. Sometimes, what you cannot explain to teens as a parent is made understood to them by like-minded individuals of their age.
Vaping is a terrible habit but teens are too young to get hold of the gravity of the situation. Hence, you should take charge and display unwavering support to your child to help them navigate through the process. Find their triggers, suppress them, and set realistic goals for them to achieve by the end of the journey.
