Peer Pressure and Smoking

I recently had a grandmother tell me about an uncomfortable conversation she had with her elementary-aged grandson. Prompted by watching a TV news story on the current teen vaping epidemic, the inquisitive boy had asked grandma whether she had ever been a smoker. In an effort to be totally honest, the grandmother told her grandson that “yes”, she had been a smoker during her teenage years. When the boy followed up with another question, “Why did you smoke?”, the grandmother told the truth. “All my friends smoked. I didn’t want to be left out.” She went on to explain how she had made an unwise choice to give in to peer pressure. Proverbs 13:20 tells us that “he who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.” Yes. . . my own adolescent experience is proof enough of the truth of those wise words. Parents, equip your kids to face the reality of peer pressure by guiding them into following the Word of God, rather than the course of this world.