foreword
Although this pamphlet is addressed to parents, it grew out of the ideas, opinions and wishes of the teenagers who came to Washington, D.C., from every State of the Union to take part in the National Conference on Smoking and Youth held by the Children's Bureau, April 30, May 1 and 2, 1964.
These 125 young men and women not only talked of what they thought about smoking or not smoking, they expressed themselves about how they wished their parents would handle the problem with them and how in the future they hoped to handle it with their own children.
Whatever your children do about smoking, what decision they make, it must come from an inner belief of their need to safeguard their health.
Hopefully, this pamphlet will give you ideas and guides that will help you help your children reach their own decision. Onto that framework, apply what you know about your children, how you get along together, and how you think you can best adapt the suggestions this pamphlet makes.
During your talks with your children about smoking, you may want to bring to their attention that they have a responsibility to our society and to contribute by living a long and useful life.
Katherine B. Oettinger
KATHERINE B. OETTINGER
Chief, Children's Bureau
Welfare Administration
children's bureau publication no. 423 — 1964
