Keeping children away from the clutches of deadly habits like drinking and smoking is primarily the responsibility of their parents.

To what extent to do you agree or disagree with this?

It is. It is parents who need to keep their children free from health hazards. But the fact remains that there are limitations for them, because, children are a lot so exposed to extreme temptations that there are chances for them to forego their parent’s controls. Still, the onus is on parents themselves.

I have no second thought on the fact that it is parents who hold the key to keep their children away from substances. This is more so when parents these days are much more occupied with the pressures of life. This in turn leaves children with more parents-free time. The best thing they can do is that they themselves need to be free from all bad habits so as to be models for their children. Together with this, they can keep a healthy relation with their children in such a way that the warmth of the relation would make any child comply with the words and counsel of his or her parents. The onus thus falls on parents’ shoulders.

However, there are limitations. Even if parents are successful in convincing their children of the deadly effects of substance abuse, there are chances for taste-testing and trying-for-once instances. Children are such that many of them hardly idenitify what is right and what is wrong. Besides all these, they are vulnerable to temptations and pressures. These pressures may range from friends to heroes to peers to macho behaviours. We cannot blame children, for they are children.

In short, though the ball is the parents’ court, it many not be possible for them to strike it right always. There are other social and governmental agencies that need to work in unison so that our children are made immune to habits and health hazards.


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