Kick butts: Don’t let teenagers start smoking
Dear Annie: From a young age, I understood the harmful effects of smoking because my grandfather died of lung cancer just months before I was born. He began smoking in his teens, which is when most adults who smoke started.
Getting kids hooked early is how tobacco companies ensure that a future generation buys their products. They even create tobacco products with flavours like cherry, mint and cookies ’n’ cream to appeal to young people. The result? Every day, more than 3,200 kids try their first cigarette. According to the U.S. surgeon general, 5.6 million kids alive today will die early from smoking unless we act to prevent it.We must teach kids about the dangers of tobacco, no matter what form or flavour it comes in. I hope everyone takes a minute to learn more by visiting tobaccofreekids.org. Tyler Long, Spartanburg, S.C.
Dear Tyler Long: Thank you for your letter. The first surgeon general’s report on smoking and health was released in 1964 and made headlines with its conclusions that cigarette smoking was responsible for a 70-per-cent increase in the mortality rate over non-smokers, that there is a correlation between smoking and lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, emphysema and coronary heart disease and that smoking during pregnancy reduces the average weight of newborns.
The 2019 Kick Butts Day is being held on March 20. This is a national day of activism empowering our young people to speak out against Big Tobacco. For more information, readers can go to kickbuttsday.org, as well as tobaccofreekids.org.
Dear Annie: I’m 17 and currently in a long-distance relationship with this awesome girl from California. We’ve never met in person, but we have Skyped a lot. We’ve been together for more than a year. Here’s the problem: I’ve been having doubts that we’ll ever really be together. On top of that, there’s this nice girl from my old school who recently admitted that she really likes me, and I’m sad to say, I like her, too. I don’t want to leave my girlfriend, but I don’t know what our next step would be.
What should I do? Chris in Chicago
Dear Chris: Long-distance romances can work, but they are complicated and challenging, even for experienced couples. And if you are not likely to meet this girl in person for months, or even years, continuing to date her doesn’t give you the opportunity to learn the real-life requirements of a solid relationship.
We think you should remain friends, but give yourself the chance to meet girls in your area and allow her the same freedom. You may reconsider a romance should you ever end up in the same part of the country.
Dear Annie: I’d like to offer my insights to “Massachusetts,” whose live-in retired boyfriend leaves wet towels on the shower door and dirty dishes in the sink, does little to help with housework and is making her miserable. Here’s my take:
She was wrong to get involved with a man 25 years older and then let him move in with her. She fully supports him and her two teenage sons, and in return, he does nothing to help out around the house. It sounds as if “Massachusetts” lets her boyfriend and her sons take advantage of her. She needs to become more assertive and let them all know what she expects of them as members of her household.
Does she realize how sad it will be when her boyfriend is 80 and she is still an active 55-year-old?