Smoking toddler

Toddlers can not easily discriminate right from wrong, and they are taught how to walk, talk and interact with other people. Being taught to play hide and seek, playing peek-a-boo or even using kid friendly apps on an iPad are the activities toddlers are supposed to be doing. It is a parent’s responsibility, no matter how young, to watch and care for the child, and do what is best for them.

This does not mean letting a child smoke marijuana.

George Kelsey, age 18, Jessica Kelsey age 17, and her father, Don Baker age 54 of Mayfield in upstate New York were all charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child according to NBC News. They were held overnight in lieu of $10,000 or $20,000 bond each.

They were accused of letting their 23 month old smoke marijuana, and even encouraging or helping the child to smoke the drug from a lit bowl in the family’s apartment on December, according to The Buffalo News.

The three adults accused have been arrested and the child and a sibling are in the care of Child Protective Services.

Thankfully the child has been placed in a safer environment. But why did these adults think it was okay for a toddler to smoke marijuana?

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Adults who decide to “help” their child learn to smoke need to get a reality check. Marijuana will not help their kids do better in life when they cannot even tie their own shoes yet. If a parent tries to teach their toddler how to smoke, than they should not have custody of their child. They do not have their kids best interest in mind when they are helping them learn how to smoke pot.

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, smoking marijuana results in distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty with thinking and problem solving, and disrupted learning and memory. These side-effects are harmful for a kid just beginning to learn interactions they will have to do for the rest of their life.

Another equally horrifying story was about a two year old, Aldi Rizal, was found in Indonesia addicted to cigarettes, having an average of 40 a day, according to Mail Online in November of 2013. After this discovery the Indonesian government began a campaign against children smoking and organizing special rehabilitation programs. Luckily the child has quit smoking, but people in Indonesia continue to offer him cigarettes.

Both of these children were following the examples given to them by their family and communities. The best chance of avoiding other occurrences where kids not even old enough to be in preschool are smoking is to not encourage them to partake in the activity in the first place.