HEY, I DON’T CARE HOW I LOOK ANYMORE IN YOUR EYES! I ‘M A
CHILDS ADVOCATE. I SPEAK UP FOR THEM BECAUSE THEY CAN’T, WON’T, DON’T KNOW
HOW TO, OR WHAT EVER THE CASE MAY BE. IN DOING SO SOME ADULTS JUMP DOWN MY NECK
WITH THEIR “RAH RAH”, AND HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF THAT:
MY QUESTION: “Why can’t we call DHS on the parents who
smoke cigarettes directly in front of their children?”
RESPONSE: “Lisa I’m a parent and a smoker ok…directly
in front of my girls no…Have they seen me yes do they know yes. Soon enough
I’ll be tobacco free…As a single parent I have enough 2 deal with everyday
just like every other parent out here hoping to make ends meet .what we need is
support, not you or anyone like you thinking that DHS is needed 4 smoking
parents…extreme & unnecessary, really? (As if DHS can keep up with the
cases of actual abuse.) I’ve known u 4 years Lisa & like me…As usual…Ya
need to think b4 u speak.”
MY response: “you just said you don’t smoke in front of
your child, so what I am saying doesn’t apply to you. If you smoke and do harm
to yourself that’s one thing, but if you were smoking in front of your children
and possibly causing them to get cancer, that’s another thing. The child can’t
make a decision not to smoke. And also, DHS is for the protection of children who
can’t protect themselves; the abuse can be big or small.”
THEN THERE WAS A response THAT WASNT DIRECTED TO ME, BUT
probably WAS INTENDED FOR ME, WHICH STATED: “It’s amazing… Women with
“chick nor child” have all these opinions & suggestions or judgments
when it comes to raising children…let me tell ya… You have NO idea….
Please mind your business whatever or whoever it/they may be because ya gets
none ova here #prick my last nerve.”
MY PURPOSE FOR THIS BLOG IS TO LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT I WILL
STAND UP FOR THE CHILDREN THAT ARE BEING MISLEAD, OVER-LOOKED, MISTREATED,
ABUSED, NEGLECTED, IGNORED, AND SO ON. I MAY NOT BE WELL LIKED BY THE ADULTS IN DOING THIS AND TAKING THIS STANCE,
BUT THE FIGHT WILL CONTINUE.
NO ONE EVER TOLD ME WALKING IN MY PURPOSE WOULD BE EASY, BUT
I AM, AND IT FEELS GOOD!
The Relationship Stuff 
Lisa, You can call DHS, but it wouldn’t do any good. Sadly, smoking is not illegal. Only in some areas as in some restaurants and other public places. It is not illegal to smoke in your own home. Until they make it illegal to sell cigarettes, they won’t make it illegal to smoke it. Education is key. I can’t imagine any caring parent wanting to smoke in front of their children, but some do not realize the harm they are causing. Just like drugs are illegal because they are dangerous, cigarettes, which are addicting as well as dangerous should be illegal too. Not just for the children’s safety but everyone’s safety. If I am in a room or even outside near someone who is smoking, I am inhaling second hand smoke which is harmful as well. A lot of polution is being inhaled by everyone which is not their decision to do. Not just from cigarettes, but from motor vehicles. factories, etc. They all contribute to cancer. Public safety needs to be a priority over making big bucks.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR COMMENT. WHICH CLEARLY STATES WHERE I WAS COMING FROM. I KNEW CALLING DHS WOULD NOT WORK BUT THAT WAS MY POINT. IT SHOULD BE A PHONE CALL WE CAN MAKE. SOMEONE THAT STANDS IN FRONT OF THEIR CHILD AND SMOKES IS AS DANGEROUS AS SOMEONE THAT GIVES THEM POISION IN SMALL AMOUNTS EVERY DAY. MAYBE THEY WILL SURVIVE, MAYBE THEY WONT.
I understand where you are coming from. I’m just looking at the bigger picture where public health and safey is concerned. Even if all parents didn’t smoke in front of their children, those same children may be inhaling second hand smoke from an adult on the street smoking that they may be walking behind or near. Protecting all people automatically protects children. Cigarette smoking is an addiction that is fed by the legal selling of cigarettes by corporations that make big bucks. A parent who deliberately smokes in front of their child despite education of its harmful affects, probably is “abusive” in other ways as well. No caring parent would do so knowing the facts, that’s where education comes in. The parent who got upset with you is probably a caring parent who loves and provides for her children, but felt attacked because she also happened to be addicted to cigarettes. I also noticed that she did not smoke in front of her children and she was trying to quit. Because of these reasons, I know what you were saying did not apply to her but she took it personally because the thought of someone possibly taking away her children over a cigarette habit seemed extreme to her and would be for her children. It was a painful thought for her and she went to attack mode. Taking children away for that reason alone may save them physically, but they would be mentally scarred from the trauma. That’s why education is the better approach because a parent who deliberately insists on smoking in front of their children knowing the facts is a parent who IS being abusive and the children’s well being should be attended to because there is a lot going on there besides a bad habit. There are a lot of environments that are not heathy for children including parents who constantly scream at their children or curse at them. Children can’t choose who their parents are, but whoever they are, their children love them. It takes a delicate balancing act to protect children’s body, mind, & soul. It takes public law and policy to protect everyone from cigarette smoke because EVERYONE includes children, children’s parents who don’t smoke, and even smokers from themselves.
very well said!
Keep standing for the children because whether something is done or not at least you stated how you feel and attempted to do something. The best we can do is try the worst is sit back, watch things happen and do NOTHING!
We all have our vices but when they come in the form of causing another harm then something needs to be done about it. Children didn’t ask or choose to be here and it’s our (Parents/Adults) God given duty to protect them.