Smoking in Front of Your Kids is Bullshit

*Fair warning: I will occasionally use profanity in this post. If this offends you, I'm sorry. Don't read it.*

I'm going to start a facebook shitstorm with this post. But really, smoking in front of your kids is one of those subjects on which I reveal that I am in fact related to the rest of my family and become completely and totally NOT politically correct.

If you disagree with me please feel free to publish your own posts about why I'm wrong. Forgive me if I don't bother to dignify your posts by responding to them.

My logic goes something like this:

Cancer is bullshit.

Smoking causes cancer. (Please see TheTruth.com if you have questions here).

Second hand smoke causes cancer.

Therefore: Smoking in front of your children is giving them cancer.

Or for those who want to argue the point I'll word it more technically correct: Smoking in front of your children carries the direct risk of giving your children cancer.

And personally I don't see how its any different from poisoning your kids right here and now instead of 20 years from now, maybe. It wouldn't be okay to play russian roulette with your toddler so why is it okay to play time machine russian roulette with your toddler.

If you're an adult and you chose to smoke, more power to ya. You're an adult. If you want to slowly kill yourself that is your right and privilege. My uncle who used to smoke once told me that: "Smoking is for cowards who haven't got the guts to kill themselves outright." I think I need that on a t-shirt personally.

So please, if you want to smoke feel free. But I don't wanna die that way so please don't do it any where near me. And if you do it any where near my child I reserve the right to come unglued.

Also if I see you smoking in front of your children I will attempt to restrain my impulse to smack you upside the head and call CPS because personally, I consider it child abuse.

Yes there is a new study out there that claims that there MIGHT be actual long term mental health side effects from smoking in front of your kid. I'd love to see some more research done but it was a big sample in a well done study so I'm inclined to think that further studies will continue to find similar results.

AND theres a whole body of existing research about how bad it is for their physical health to smoke in front of your kids for those unconvinced by the latest study about mental health. Feel free to go ask your pediatrician about it. The American Academy of Pediatrics would LOVE to educate you on the subject I'm sure.

If you don't want to be my friend any more after reading this post that is your right and privilege. If you disagree with me in the comments here please bring a LARGE body of empirical, impartial, peer reviewed scientific research as evidence or I will feel free to ignore you.