Smoking around asthmatic children is unwise

no one should smoke around any adult who has chronic lung disease. I have adult-onset asthma and second hand smoke and third hand smoke on clothing both worsen my breathing. I had to stop working at one job (I was an intake counselor for drug addicts/alcoholics who are notarious tobacco-heads) because the secondhand smoke on my clients clothing, breath, etc. severely worsened by lung function....daily, all day. By the way, I made a choice as a child to NOT smoke. And I have kept it. I did have secondhand cigar-smoke exposure from my dad during my childhood...but I was not asthmatic at the time...and back then, people did not know better. Today, there is NO excuse. Fortunately, none of my current friends or family smoke and I live in state with strick anti-smoking laws. Yet, in some public places I am still exposed to it.

Thanks for letting me rant!

shortwind

www.myspace.com/gaylemyrnamuzak

I think "unwise" is a grand understatement.  Hopefully any parent who reads this article will also take the time to read this comment, because I feel the article was a little too light on the subject.  While I do appreciate the author's informative and awareness-raising blog posts, this particular article seems to lack the necessary gusto that this topic warrants.  In fact it seems as if few are willing to hold parent's feet to the fire when it comes to smoking "around" (not just "in front of") their children.  I however have no reservations and personally am in full agreement with the doctor mentioned in the article...this is absolutely a form of child abuse.  The affects are emotional and physical, and any asthmatic child brought up in a smoking environment is at a huge disadvantage to other children.  Parent's need to understand that they are holding their children back, making their lives more difficult, preventing them from achieving their dreams in many cases, as well as creating a breeding ground for future resentment.  Children's safety is entrusted to their parents for the most formative years of their lives, and yet so many parents blatantly disregard that obligation by failing to provide their kids with one of the most basic of necessities, clean air.