I know I have a parental responsibility to explain the risks of smoking, including all the social, medical, and financial costs of getting addicted to nicotine, and to set the expectation that one should never take up smoking.

But every generation of young people feels immortal, and all those warnings don't apply to them. So the challenge is re-framing the message in a way that will truly resonate with them. I think I found it.

Yeah, smoking is bad for you. It's expensive. It will likely give you lung cancer. If you start and try to quit later, it will be HARD. But I'll tell you the real reason to not smoke. BUYING CIGARETTES HOLDS UP THE CHECKOUT LINE AND PISSES OFF EVERYONE BEHIND YOU.

That's a message that resonates with kids these days.