Kids who smoke

Kids who smoke The latest assault by the anti-smoking brigade features ads with graphic depictions of gangrenous feet belonging to some poor sod who's about to have the leg chopped. (And I always wonder about ads like that. Did the lighting and camera crew come in to set up the shot before or after the anaesthetist put the patient under and the doctor started drawing a dotted line with little pictures of scissors all over his shin?) Now, if I'm watching ER or RPA or When Smoking Goes Wrong... I might expect to see the odd rotting limb here and there. But when I'm watching the program of my choice, which involves no mention of septic body parts, should I be subjected to this in an ad appearing on all networks, merely for the benefit of smokers? It seems that smokers are no longer invading our lungs in restaurants but are indirectly invading our viewing matter on TV. Sure it's not them directly but it's because of them. They're the target audience, so if they'd kindly stop watching the shows I like... there, that's better. Funny thing though, about trying to get the whole anti-smoking message, or any message, across. I have kids. Our 3-y.o, Little Miss L, has been quite a handful for oh, about half her life. So we've thrown up our hands and in an attempt to modify her rather mischievous behaviour, we've consulted various sources on child pshychology. The revelation I've made is this. When you tell your child to stop jumping up and down on the coffee table, she can hear you. You don't HAVE to say it more than once. You don't HAVE to yell it at the top of your voice. Just as you don't have to tell her where the chocolate is hidden more than once. She can hear you, she just chooses not to change her behaviour. And if you threaten with a smack, or whatever, it may stop her from doing it there and then but you can bet that 15 minutes later she'll be back up there using the furniture as bits of play equipment. The good behaviour=reward/bad behaviour=punishment paradigm is falling out of favour with many child experts these days. My point being, do we really think there are any smokers out there who don't actually know that it's bad for them? It's kind of a given these days: you smoke, you cough, you can't exercise very well, you also may stink quite a lot of the time. I don't want to be around you or your foul excrescent odour but if you want to do that to yourself, go right ahead. Just don't litter the footpath with your burnt-out fart sticks when you're done. I think the people at QUIT should start reading some child psychology books because if you have to resort to the kind of gore we're going to be sujbected to from here on in (stuff that would probably have a warning, were it in a show or film), my guess is: they can hear you; you don't need to keep yelling at them, saying how naughty they're being; you need to find another way. Because the rotting-flesh punishment threat isn't going to to squat.