Would you help a teen smoke? Many Aussies would
You’re getting some fresh air to break up a busy day at work.
And then a child approaches you and asks for a cigarette or a lighter.
You might smoke – you might not – but surely a request from a boy not yet in his teenage years is turned down, whatever your smoker status is?
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Well, unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case.
A recent video, which has attracted over 35,000 hits and is viewable below, shows that most Australians actually would help someone – who is clearly not old enough – smoke.
In the video, a child roams the streets of Adelaide, South Australia, and is only declined on one occasion.
Would you give cigarettes to a child? Photo: AAP
A woman, who claimed to be a nurse, refused to help and expressed shock at the boy’s age.
She then sat him down to talk about the negatives of smoking.
It is unclear if the video has been edited to show the boy being denied just once.
Reaction
Quit Victoria Director Dr Sarah White has watched the video and said it was disappointing that adults would assist young people to smoke.
“Nicotine is highly addictive and damages the development of adolescent brains,” Dr White told The New Daily.
“So to see people handing over cigarettes and a lighter is disappointing. Sadly, though, it’s not surprising.
“The vast majority of smokers start before they are 18 and given children are not legally able to buy cigarettes, they must be obtaining them from adults.
“Clearly banning sales to minors, on its own, does not prevent children from taking up smoking.
“Tobacco products are easier to obtain than milk and bread and we’d like to see restrictions on their availability, including through a licensing scheme for retailers, which would give more teeth to the enforcement of laws banning sales to minors.”
YouTube users also condemned those who gave the child a cigarette or a lighter.
Nit Patel wrote: “This is messed up…I mean he’s a KID, A LITTLE BOY.”
Reese Laura added: “It’s upsetting how they gave him the lighter and the happh [sic] thing was that the nurse gave him a lecture bout [sic] smoking.”
