Keeping Children Stress-Balanced and Smoke-Free

Stress.
Ever hear of it? Stress is a state-of-mind parents know all too well. It grays our hair, makes us tired and frazzles our nerves. It can also make us oblivious to the stress experienced by our children. Stress attacks kids from numerous angles-academics, social pressures and family issues are examples of only a few.

The fact is that today's youth is under tremendous pressure to succeed and do well in multiple arenas.
And, what we're learned, is that stress also is tied to youth smoking. Stress and the need to relieve that stress is ranked second only to addiction as the main reason why young smokers continue to smoke.

So, kids may not start smoking because of stress, but they may continue smoking to help manage their stress.

As the spokesperson for the youth smoking prevention program "Real Parents.

Real Answers," I encourage parents to help their children combat this risk.
And, to help, we came up with a few ways parents can both detect stress in a child's life and encourage their child to relieve that stress in a healthy way.
What Is Stress Realizing that stress can be any nonspecific response to outside demands is key to understanding a child's stress level.
Thus, stress can manifest in a reaction a child might have to normal activities like doing schoolwork, dealing with siblings, or even heavy chores. Stress usually has negative connotations, yet not all of it is bad.

In fact, not enough stress can be just as harmful as too much.

Parents can help their children find a balance between positive and negative stress while teaching them how to cope with the strain of everyday life.

Detecting Stress In Your Child The first and most important step in detecting your child's stress is to pay attention to the signals your child may be sending.
There are several emotional, behavioral, and physical red flags that indicate a stressed child.

These red flags include fatigue, body aches, social withdrawal, anxiety and lack of focus or motivation.

If your child is displaying any or all of these symptoms, your first step is to sit down, listen and get a better understanding of what your child has been going through or feeling.
Oftentimes there can be issues at school or with friends of which you may not be aware.
The most effective way to keep a child from becoming overwhelmed with too much stress is to keep the path of communication open between parent and child.

Family communication plays a pivotal role in a child's expression; children will only express themselves if they trust their parents.
Stress-Combating Activities After establishing trust through open communication, the next step is to try and help your child get into activities that help balance his stress.

Whether it's music, painting, or running, get to know what your kids like to do and create a low-stress environment for them to pursue their interests.

When kids and teens are busy doing what they love, they're more likely to stay away from unhealthy habits.
Unfortunately, kids can lose interest in extra-curricular activities if there is too much outside pressure; therefore, it is important to make sure that your child is challenged but ultimately having fun in whatever activity they prefer.

Always remember, having fun is a key to managing stress.

Some teens, when the "fun" aspect is lacking, will lash out, quit their activities, and turn to things like smoking and drinking to cope with stress.

It is important for parents to encourage downtime or a break from certain activities when they see their child is unhappy or over stressed.
Sometimes all your child needs is a break from the pressure of the activity and then they'll return to it with a renewed interest. Trusting Our Kids To Make Good Decisions Life is all about decisions. As with adults, our children's stress levels are dependent upon the decisions they make.
Each day they are faced with choices. We as parents can guide them, but it's just as important we demonstrate to our kids that we trust them to make the right choices.

To do that, we must give our kids the tools and freedom necessary to make choices.

Yes, there will be bad decisions along the way but kids who know their parents have confidence in them tend to make better choices overall-especially when it comes to the difficult decisions such as saying no to friends who offer them drugs, cigarettes or alcohol.