Found chewing tobacco in my teenaged son's pocket

[kitty1]

Is this a common thing now with teenage boys? I found a tin of this chew the other day.
My son is 17, soon to be 18. My husband and I rode him up and down about the dangers of chew and the health ramifications. As well as the money he is wasting on this crap.
He swears up and down that he won't do it again and that he could stop anytime. A lot of his friends do this. It's very much a part of the sports culture apparently. Hockey and baseball especially.
I think teenagers are under the misconception that just because chewing tobacco is smokeless that it is okay. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I showed him some internet articles about the danger of chewing.
Many baseball players have died of oral cancers because of this. Including Babe Ruth.
Is this common in the States as well. They say the incidence of chewing has been rising lately.

[phantom power]

1. It's addictive like smoking too. Hard to quit.

[paulsby]

2. yea. relatively common amongst athletes

in high school.

i remember one guy left a tin in his pants when they went into the laundry and the locker room guy almost killed him.

[JuniperLea]

3. Google image search "mouth cancer"

I'd not say another word, but plaster the hundreds of pictures to be found, printed in vivid but barely living color, all over every wall he sees in the house.

[kitty1]

5. I definitely will do that. His image is important to him

[kitty1]

8. That line about the image was meant for the post underneath n/t

[JuniperLea]

13. It really works for this as well, don't you think?

these pictures are really hideous... no 17-year-old wants to look anything but cool.

[JuniperLea]

11. He is at that age...

He wants to look cool... without a word, you can show him exactly how cool he can look... I pray that never happens! I hope it helps! There are pictures of very young people too, showing they aren't as indestructible as they feel at that age.

Good luck.

[tech3149]

34. If image is important to him, I expect he has good oral hygene

That would mitigate the risk of oral cancer. Just an anecdotal report, My grandfather almost always had a chew in his cheek and lived to 92. He was born in 1896 and probably chewed from the time he started working at 14. His health didn't start to deteriorate until his wife died when he was 89. I asked my parent's if they could remember a medical reason for his death and all they could say was old age, they're both 69 right now. For me I think it was losing the meaning for life not being able to share it with his soul mate.

I wouldn't freak out about it unless you have a family history. Just argue how disgusting a habit it is. You might also ask who would want to kiss you with that foul taste in your mouth.

edit to add: This comes from an unrepentant smoker of 45 years. I agree with the following post "make him swallow it!" nothing can turn you off to the taste of tobacco than that queasy feeling you have when it gets in your stomach.

[MorningGlow]

4. Tell him girls find it pretty repulsive

Nothing nastier than watching a guy dribble brown juice into a cup or can or hock a brown loogie onto the grass. Breath has gotta reek too...

[Drunken Irishman]

6. I remember in elementary a chewer came to talk to our class.

He had suffered mouth cancer and had his jaw removed.

Not pretty.

[Common Sense Party]

7. Not just "now" ...it has been common for years.

My best friends in high school in the mid-80s were dippers. I even did the Bandits, the dip in a pouch.

[konnichi wa]

9. All the high school athletes used that Skoll stuff back in the late 70s

I figured it had gone out of style.

Do you mean actual 'chewing' terbacky?....or the powdered stuff...?

[tech3149]

35. Having had to work around teens in Metro NJ

I can say that it was common even in 2002. Since then I've been back in W PA but I still see its regular use, not sure how common but enough that I notice.

[sniffa]

10. Greg was smoking!

Many people chewed when I was in High School and I became one of them. This was back in the early 90's so it's been going on for some time.

I went to a hockey factory so there was a sports culture theme to it.

[JVS]

41. At my school we snorted our tobacco.

It was like a bunch of 17 year olds had run into a batch of brown cocaine.

[walkaway]

12. Log him on to Quitnet or a site like it.

They have a group for "chew" and a young adult group as well. You can't really police him but sometimes a good support can help him. Especially if his peer group uses tobacco as well.

www.quitnet.com

[lame54]

14. make him swallow it

[sniffa]

19. And smoke an entire carton of cigarettes in one sitting

[JVS]

44. And an 8-ball

[AngryAmish]

40. I was 12 when I swallowed my first dip

Mom beleived I got a bad taco or something.

[w8liftinglady]

15. Not that it will matter-my patient yesterday is dying at 42

dipped snuff since he was 14.Esophageal cancer with metastasis to all major organs.It's very sad.

[KittyWampus]

18. In your opinion, do you think it's common knowledge how addicting chew is?

Wonder if some kids think it's less addictive.

[w8liftinglady]

20. I think it's more acceptable-at least in Texas

kind of a cowboy thing here

[Ocracoker16]

30. I think that they think it is a lot less dangerous than smoking

[KittyWampus]

16. Wish there was a "cool" alternative. Gum just doesn't have the cache. Hope your efforts work BUT

he's going to do what he will.

I hope he finds a girl who finds it disgusting and he likes her enough to quit.

I smoked til I didn't want to anymore. He's pretty much out of your hands but will always be in your heart.

[undeterred]

17. Tell him he has just reduced his chances of getting kissed

(or anything more than that) by about 90%. I find it repulsive and I don't want to be around anyone who does it.

[KittyWampus]

21. IMO, this might be a good angle to try with a guy.

[undeterred]

25. A friend and I were talking about our 'worst' dates

Hers was with a guy who was chewing tobacco in the pickup truck they were driving in... he kept spitting into a can that was stuck on the dashboard.

Yeah right, like he's going to get even a little kiss.

[KittyWampus]

27. LOL! I wonder if there was rifle over the pickup's back window... and a black lab

displaced from his spot in the passenger's seat ;)

[CRK7376]

37. Careful now...

pickups, guns and labs....got all of them, but I don't chew. Did a few times in the 70's trying to be like my buddies. Discovered it wasn't too much fun, especially after missing a line drive and swallowing a big plug of Redman. Chew was definitely better than smokeless, hated that worm dirt from the moment I tried it....Being Southern, especially where it's grown in huge quantities and working the tobacco fields during priming season as a young man....easy to see why it's popular. Just isn't for me. Glad my kids are not interested in it either.

[Retired AF Dem]

43. With most of the women I have been involved with in my life

Labs are much more loyal. Lost a dog once to mouth cancer, she never dipped, chewed, or drank alcohol in her life.

[tech3149]

36. See my fist post on the thread

My Grandpap was a regular chewer and his wife's biggest complaint was while driving he would spit out the window and it was all over the side of the car. It's amazing how those little things bug you.

[pipi_k]

I remember being 16 and thinking

onion breath was repulsive.

Even cigarette breath...


Chewing tobacco breath? Forget it. Never met anyone who did it, but if I had, they wouldn't have seen much lip action from me.

[handmade34]

22. please tell him

I watched my step father take his last breath last year (in the hospital from cancer). He had half of his tongue/cheek taken out a few years earlier. I don't want your son to go through that.

I have discovered that I can't make my kids do/stop anything. All that I can do is be forthright, honest, caring and patient. No lectures, yelling, punishing will force an honest action. When my last son was 17 he asked me about chew and we discussed it. Fortunately that was it.

I hope your son stops.

[Taverner]

23. Do a google with him of long term use smokeless tobacco and mouth

Babe Ruth died not from chewing tobacco, but from Cigars

He liked to chew 'em

[cagesoulman]

24. Switch it for a baggie

:evilgrin:

[MichaelHarris]

26. I chewed for

36 years, it's very hard to stop but I did two years ago. I never had any problems with tooth lose or disease. Most of those deaths you mentioned were because the athlete also smoked. Babe Ruth smoked cigars relentlessly. I do know some people get oral cancer, and disease and people should try and quit.

The cost alone, unless he's using the way off brand should cause him some pain. Never buy it for him or give him money to buy it, make him fund his own addictions. Chantix is the drug I used to quit and it worked.

[LostinVA]

28. Show him photos of people with oral cancer

It's actually considered worse than smoking.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

29. That must have been embarrassing for you. How did you get into your son's pocket?

And why were you chewing tobacco in there?

[Swede]

31. Nicotine is highly addictive

and very very hard to quit.

[StrongBad]

32. Get him some Big League Chew!

[BoneDaddy]

33. You present the facts and leave him to his own devices

because you do not want to alienate him. A young man needs to own his own decisions and my experience both personal and professional have seen parents push their kids to a point where any semblance of reason will not make it through if this becomes a power struggle. Act with compassion and understanding as well as reason and hopefully it will bleed through to him. Short experience with chew will not have long lasting effects. In most cases this is his peer group that is doing it and he is acting in concert.

[Feron]

38. Dipping is absolutely disgusting.

Just thinking about it makes me want to dry heave. No girl is ever going to want to kiss him as long as he dips.

[AngryAmish]

39. The horror! The horror!

Listen: You have to "ride him" as you say - you are his parents.

But if you haven't had a nice dip in and sat in a boat fishing from afternoon to night, then you have not lived my friend.

It has been about three years since I've had a dip. (Having a tot cuts down on the old fishing weekends.)

Anyway, he is not a child. He'll figure out you can't dip in mix company. (Back in the day half the guys were dipping in class at U of I -- I think people would freak out now.)

[proteus_lives]

42. If you push him, he's only going to do it more.

He's edging out of that rebellious age but if you rail against it, you might push him into it.

Just tell him, "it's gross and unhealthily" and move on. Let him decide for himself.