Smoking in Cars Kills Children

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Smoking in Cars Kills Children Children have no choice whether their parents smoke or not. Children do not have a choice whether or not an adult smokes while driving a vehicle. Parents have a choice whether they want to smoke or not and parents choose whether or not to smoke in the car with their children in it. Smoking in a car with children riding in it is a harmful and deadly choice to make, therefore smoking in cars should be illegal. Children do not get to choose with whom they ride, nor what the driver of the vehicle does. There have been several public movements to bring to light the plight of child neglect and abuse. Until recently there has been no movement to inform the American public about a child’s right to breathe fresh air in a vehicle. Smoking while driving can be considered as harmful as blowing smoke directly into a child’s face in a tiny room. As a parent of a child with asthma, I feel that more parents should consider their child’s health and wellbeing. Smoking near children, or even in the same room, should be considered as abusive as allowing a minor to consume alcohol. The right to smoke, harmful as it may be, is still only an individual right. The act of polluting a child’s lungs is not a right, and should be considered a crime. According to Chest magazine, 4.8 million American children have been diagnosed with asthma. Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma. The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta report that in 2005, 159,000 children under the age of fifteen were hospitalized for acute asthma, and 5,300 people died. Among the 5,300 children one-third of them were second-hand smoke breathers. “That is too many children dying from a preventable disease” states David N. Sundwall, M.D. (Executive Director, Tobacco
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