If you saw a 12 year old smoking a cigarette on the sidewalk nearby how would you react?

Keep on walking. I don’t need more grief. I was bullied for years for stopping kids from smoking pot on the front yard. I try to pick my battles from now on.

I would’t react.
a) Their bodies, their choice. I’ve no right to tell them what to do.
b) I’m not their parent. Let them deal with their kids.

Unless they are making some sort of trouble, my advice is the same as deer’s: keep on walking.

Not my kid, not my problem.

You can’t hide smoking since it makes you smell like a dumpster. Unless the parents are smokers too they will notice.

@RedDeerGuy1 It turned out not to be pot, but to be rolled cigarettes. I was 9 years old they were 17 around. I hucked a rock at them and caused my own grief and torment for a decade. That is why I abhor standing up to people. I just keep on walking. Anyone can hurt anyone else if they want to.

I would cross the street, or walk somewhere that illegal behavior in plain sight isn’t common.

@YARNLADY Smoking’s illegal?

@Sneki95 it is for minors.

None of my business. A perfect stranger is not going to have any impact on a kid. I started smoking at 14 and nothing anybody said changed my mind. It’s the kids choice, and they will find a way to smoke one way or another anyway. This is the parents job not a strangers.

I’d MMOB.

I don’t know what I could do about it. I could try to tell him smoking is bad for his lungs, but he probably wouldn’t listen.

If it was MY 12-year-old, a very different reaction from what it would be if it was some random kid.

And if I knew the child to be 12 years old, then I would probably know his family, and I might say something to them – unless it was clear that they already knew. It’s not like I’ve never seen this, either, by the way.

Ask em if they got an extra one.

Whatever

I’d probably ignore it. There are things that I would intervene, even if it’s someone else’s kid, but probably not smoking.

While I might be tempted to say ‘that will kill you’, I suspect doing so will invite being told where to go. I’d ignore it.

They could be smoking worse. Unless the kid is someone I know, I don’t care.

LOL. This reminds me of an old joke:

This 13 year-old kid is standing on a corner smoking a cigarette. A middle-aged man walks up and says, “Those will kill you, boy.”
The kid says, “My grandpa lived to be 94 years old.”
The man asks, “Well, did he smoke?”
The kid says, “Nah, he minded his own damn business.”

A few years ago I use to jog early in the morning and often stopped at a park toilet to take a leak. Several times I saw kids smoking in there. There was a Junior high school a block away. I just called the park office and told them and they quickly closed the toilet for good and never opened it.

I wish that I didn’t say anything because I had to use the bushes from then on.

Throw a bucket of water over him (just happened to have one) & sing “smoke on the water”

Depends on the situation
If it was a random 12-year-old, I’d ignore it. His body and I really don’t care what he does with it.
If it was a kid I knew, I’d probably talk to his parents or teachers if I knew them. If I knew him but not any adult associated with him, I’d ignore it.
Now, If it was my nephew or my own kid, I’d be pretty upset. Cigarettes at that age can lead to a lifelong habit. Not going to happen in my home.

For me, age is not a factor, but my exposure to the smoke is.

So If I have to walk through the smoke, I don’t care if he or she is 12, 22, or 72, I’ll tell them to go smoke somewhere else.

I’d just give the kid a look and then walk on.

I smoke a couple of American Spirits every morning with my coffee, and a couple in the evenings, and while I do not want smokers blowing their smoke right in my face or, certainly not in a confined area I smoke outside smokers do not bother me. The way I see it one good whiff of bus exhaust and all the particulate in the air from fireplaces, woodstoves, and all the other pollutants, well…the occasional drift of cigarette smoke is the least of your worries. If you live in a big city you are inhaling pollutants every time you take a breath. I am not condoning smoking as a great habit, not at all, but really, if someones cigarette smoke is annoying you it is up to you to just walk away, smoking is not illegal after all and unless a smoker is violating a smoking code/ban or blatantly blowing smoke right in your face just deal with it, it’s not the end of the world.

I see 12 year olds consuming soda,and McDonald’s too…

Just saying.

There’s nothing you can do. Even if you were a cop and took their cigs away they’d always find more. It’s their problem and sadly only they can figure it out.

@MrGrimm888 Touche! I mean really, all the militant anti-smoking hate is rather displaced IMO. Smoking is legal, it is a choice, just as eating junk food is. Nobody is going to get cancer and keel over and die if they are exposed to a little cigarette or cigar smoke now and then. The second hand smoke hype is really quite ridiculous if you ask me. I mean it’s not like walking past a smoker is the same thing as being locked in a room with a chain smoker for months on end.

Why don’t we complain about the nasty diesel emissions of people big ass trucks that leave you lightheaded and nauseated when you get a left in a cloud of diesel smoke?
I also do not like all the outrage over perfume and scents. Seriously, if you’re so fucking sensitive to every little thing just stay in your bubble house and let others lead a life minus your little snowflake whims. Should we ban peanuts because some people have nut allergies, excuse the fuck out of me if my peanut butter and crackers s offensive to you, move away if you don’t like the smell of my peanut butter sandwich. lol

I would be like “Dude wtf?” Then I would probably smack the cig out of the guys hand and be like ” No”

If I saw a 12 year old smoking a cigarette, I think my reaction would normally be that everybody makes their own choices. If I would not care about it, then why should I tell him to stop smoking? I could try to tell him smoking is bad for his lungs, but he probably wouldn’t listen.