Smoking Bans Continue to Climb in Parks - And Smoker's Wonder Why

Parks are lively, filled with color from nature, complete with benches, sidewalks, and playgrounds where children laugh and exert excessive amounts of energy in the open, fresh air. The key of that sentence being, fresh air.

Communities around the world are recognizing the damaging effects secondhand smoke presents to others, especially to children who are growing and developing. The ability to live life without breathing in potent toxins emitting from the combustion of cigarettes and cigars is a right municipalities are beginning to grant; not through indoor smoking bans - but in ones that extend into the environment outside of businesses, restaurants, and even extending into private homes and vehicles.

As a parent, and former smoker, I understand the deep ramifications that come with children breathing in secondhand smoke. I wasn't always knowledgeable in the effects of cigarettes on children. . . or adults for that matter. Even with losing a parent to COPD just over a decade ago, the true dangers simply did not sink in. It wasn't until I gave birth to my youngest son at 24-weeks in gestation when I began really learning about the toxic potency of tobacco smoke.

I learned about how lungs continue to develop into adulthood and how exposure to certain toxic chemicals found in cigarettes can impede a child from having normal lung function in sports. I was taught how continuous exposure to cigarette smoke, even secondhand and third-hand varieties, can destroy precious cells in the lungs of an infant and toddler. I was educated by skilled physicians and nurses in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit as my youngest son fought for his life, slowly gaining strength until the day when he was released from the hospital after a long 115 days.

Again, just over a year after my son's release from the NICU, he was in a life-threatening situation where his lungs were compromised and he fought for his life. I began receiving more education while my son was laying in a bed with a ventilator supporting his lungs 24-hours a day for nearly two weeks.

The reason why I was taught so much about smoking and the effect on a child's lungs is because my husband and I were smokers. Every day that we smoked, we placed our son at greater risk for a life-long battle with lung diseases.

So people around the world are now beginning to recognize that smoking is damaging to children and it is time to ban the use of cigarettes in areas where they frequent to run, play, and live their lives without concern. Yet, some people cannot understand why anyone would restrict lighting up a cigarette outside.

I have to admit, I was once that person. . . Then I had to watch my son fight for his life and wear oxygen for the next three+ years of his life. I had to watch him gasp for air with every common cold that came his way. I quickly became the advocate for smoking bans, especially in areas where children frequent and cannot decide for themselves on the quality of air they are breathing.

The next time a smoker complains about being limited to where they can smoke, remind them they do not know the medical history of every child around. Then, educate them on electronic cigarettes.