I actually think Sharpi is a terrific parent getting involved with her child's life. I'll make that perfectly clear, so nobody misunderstands that. I edited my original post a little to reflect that also, because of the nature of the post.
I have 5 children that do not smoke or vape (even today which really is a wonder in itself, and they get credit for that). Three of them have been free to do what they wish for years. I'm not the perfect parent, but I do try to do the best I can for them.
Being creative and not getting caught is possible, but knowing the consequences of getting caught in the first place, tended to work better for me. I don't have to know what the child is doing 24/7, I just have to catch the child misbehaving at any point in time to add two and two together. Just like when they went to school, you don't watch them 24/7 but you get progress reports, and if they are really bad, you get "that" call from the teacher or principal telling you what they did wrong that day. Nothing stops you from asking questions to other people either, it usually doesn't take a lot of digging to find out enough to get a decent picture of what is going on.
An example (true story):
My daughter stole a pack of cigarettes from me once, and tried them out, because one of her friends wanted them, and couldn't get them otherwise. He figured talking her into it, was a good idea. Her grandfather was the one who caught them, go figure. She went for it, and got an earful from him, and then got to see me. First off, you are not allowed to smoke, secondly your not allowed to steal. Here is your spanking, and you are grounded for a month, do it again and I'll not be so pleasant. She was 9 at the time, so yes it does happen with children to. I didn't really care for having to do that, but I felt it needed to be done. Sure he tried to get around that, however he didn't have a lot of luck coming up to my house that month, or the month after that, or the month after that one ... I think you get the picture.
Lets just say however, that her grandfather hadn't have noticed though, would you think I might wonder where my smokes went? Of course I would, and I'd find out soon enough where they were going to. Parents can be pretty creative to, when they are suspicious.
I can say that "my" first response to having "my" children picking up nicotine in any form probably wouldn't be so understanding at first, because it has happened before. I'm biased, smoking almost killed me, and I'd attempt to make it stop before it became a permanent issue. It had become an expensive habit, considering that when I started that cigarettes were sixty cents a pack and it took me 29 years to quit them. If I can scare them out of doing it, you bet I will attempt it. Then if it doesn't work, then I'd probably look into alternatives to.
I agree that I'd rather not have them smoke, and
vaping is a better alternative. And if the child was persistent in doing that, that as a parent you have the option to buy the stuff you need for them. I have no issue with a minor carrying personal
vaping gear, as I don't see it as a society altering crime. If it is ok for the parents to have them do it, what is the problem in buying them the stuff to do it with?
Nobody should have to lock their children down permanently, because they can run down to the 7-11 and buy smokes legally. Yes, I do realize they "could" talk someone into it. I'm just hoping that most adults would say no to other peoples children asking them to do something so obviously stupid. At least if I catch someone doing that, I have recourse. By the time they get to this point its probably to late and Sharpi's option probably is a much better alternative, and she knows what her child is doing.
I don't need vaping or smoking pushed to my children. However putting, age restrictions on internet sales, is just absurd. They have no way of knowing how old the person is, and the only people getting targeted in that case is the honest vendor. Face to face sales however are an entirely different matter, and checking a simple ID is not that hard to do. You can get around these limits if you want to, however, the vendor in this is being asked to be responsible in who they sell to. Limiting where they are sold, when selling them to minors, would be the sole purpose of them being there in the first place is appropriate and I have no issue with that.
Moving on to the issue of smoking at 11. Yes, I do know it happens, and yes I'm very aware kids are doing things that are not good for them at earlier ages then when we did them. I disagree that parents should just give up, because the kids are smarter or more creative then they think the parents could ever possibly be. 4 years of smoking at that age, without anybody even noticing it is an issue I'd prefer doesn't happen to "my" children. Please let me be more observant than that.
I think its ironic, that Sharpi has her child vaping 0 nic juice. She is obviously a creative person in her own right, and we are different as I wouldn't have thought about that so much to start with, because I personally don't DIY myself. I don't think she would care so much for a vendor selling her child 24mg juice at school though, as it would kind of defeat the whole point of her DIY talents. Yet another reason, she should be in control of her child's purchases, instead of her child.
I don't think we need to advertise underage vaping on youtube. All adults should be aware of what it is, and how it can be useful though.
Cyatis
