Teen smoking can be a really tough topic to discuss with your friends, especially if they tend to smoke at home. If you’re one of these friends, you know the feeling of having to justify yourself to your friends when they ask you for advice.
You might think that you’re doing the right thing for your friend by helping them quit, but how can you tell them it won’t last? Should you tell them that they’ll still smoke after they quit?
How to tell your friends that your friend won’t quit after they give up smoking
If you’re the one who’s trying to help your friend, you know that you’re not helping them quit smoking when you give up. Of course, you’ve been trying to help your friend for months.
Even if your friend doesn’t really want to quit, they won’t change. It’s not your fault that they refuse to change.
If you see that your friend is smoking and you think that they’ll stop once you tell them that they’ll quit, you might want to give them some tips on how to quit.
Tips on helping your friend quit smoking
Sometimes it’s hard to tell your friend to quit smoking. You might think that it’s your job to help them quit.
But if your friend doesn’t want to quit, you shouldn’t force them to do it. Maybe you’re the only one who wants to help them quit. Maybe you’re not interested in helping your friend.
Or maybe they’re the one who wants to quit the most but they can’t.
If your friend tells you that they want to quit, listen to them and do what you can in their favor. Don’t force them to quit, even if they’re your best friend.
Here are a few tips on how to help your friend quit smoking.
Get their attention
You might not be able to convince them to quit smoking on your own.
When you talk to your friend, you might want to try to get their attention. You can do this by:
- Making conversation
Talking about other things that you do interest your friend
Talking about things that you like to do
Making them laugh
Encouraging them to talk about their plans for the future
Asking them what they want to do for fun or how they feel when they smoke
Telling them that you love and care about them
Remember that you’re not doing this because you want to be helpful. You’re trying to help your friend because you want to be supportive.
If they say that they’ll try to quit, try not to push them. Instead, praise them for trying and encourage them to stay with the plan.
Tell them that you’ll help them quit
If your friend is interested in quitting, they’ll probably want to quit. They might tell you that they’ll quit when they feel ready.
If you can’t get your friend to quit, you might want to encourage them to do it.
You might even want to get them to quit right now, if you think that your friend wants to quit right now.
If your friend agrees to quit, tell them that you’ll help them quit. You might consider telling them that you’ll be willing to help them quit if they keep their promise and quit.
You might want to tell them that if they quit, you’ll be willing to help them get a job, get a car, or anything else that they want.
Let them know that you care about them
Sometimes it’s hard to tell your best friend that they’re not doing the right thing.
You might want to tell them that you care about their health and that you want them to quit. This can help your friend to feel that you care about their situation.
It can also help them to know that you care about their well-being.
Talk to them about it
Ask your friend if they want to talk about quitting. Ask them if they want to talk about their reasons for quitting and how they feel about it.
They should be ready to talk to you about it. If they aren’t ready to talk to you, they probably won’t be ready to quit when they’re ready to quit.
You might also want to talk to them about how they can quit.
Tell them that you love and care about them
If your friend is ready to quit, tell them that you love and care about them and that you want them to quit.
You might also want to tell them that you’re willing to help them quit if they do.
Give them the tools they need
Ask them how they want to quit. You might ask them what they’re planning to do.
If they suggest that they’ll start by quitting one cigarette a day, you might plan to help them quit one cigarette a day.
But if they suggest that they’ll quit after they quit one cigarette, you might want to plan to help them quit 100 cigarettes a day.
Make it fun
Before you do anything else, make sure that you let your friend know that quitting is a fun activity.
It might be hard to get them to quit on their own, but you can make it fun for them and make it worth it.
You might also want to make it fun for you. When you get their attention, you might want to get them to do something they enjoy.
For example, you might want to get them to play a game where they win points by lighting up a cigarette.
The more they smoke, the more points they win. If you win, you get to give them a prize.
If you can’t talk to your friend about quitting, you might want to try other things to help them quit.
For example, you might want to:
- Get into a game of strip poker.
- Make them smoke in a pipe with a bowl and a long tube.
In summary
Quitting smoking can be hard. But there are things that you can do to help your friend quit.
If they have the desire to quit, they’ll probably want to quit. You can help them do it.
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