Reply To: Teenager Caught Smoking Cigarettes – Any Advice?

The suggestions for “shock therapy” by exposing the child to the diseases and deaths continue despite the fact that research has failed to demonstrate any effectiveness for the “scared straight” method. The kid who smokes for the social image and connection receives his positive reinforcement immediately, while the negative consequences are a mirage to him, the accumulation of thousands of cigarettes over a great deal of time. One is reality, the other a distant and imaginary concept. If you explore the thinking process of the kid who has begun smoking, these “shocking” ideas will make little sense. And, in fact, they don’t work.