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A Sydney mother is calling on the NSW government to issue a total ban on smoking around children, labelling it as “child abuse”.

Nina Belle said she was driving along Old Northern Road in Castle Hill when she saw three adults smoking alongside a toddler in a pram, with the smoke “blowing in the poor child’s face”.

Left in an absolute rage the young mum started a petition, calling on the state government to take action, shares 7 news.

She is calling on those parents who do smoke around their children to be fined and given “ample education and support to quit, including counselling”.

“I believe exposing babies and children to ongoing passive smoke is a form of child abuse. This view might sound outrageous, but it’s not,” Ms Belle wrote in her petition.

“We intervene when children are neglected due to alcohol or drug addictions, and we should intervene when children are exposed to ongoing second-hand smoke.

Ms Belle said in instances where children suffer health effects as a result of their parents’ smoking, they should be moved to a “safer living environment”.

“If you choose to smoke, and harm your own health, that is your own decision. But to expose an innocent child, that is not right,” she added.

“I know this issue is more prevalent in disadvantaged communities, but it is still happening everywhere and it’s 2017.”

Since July 2009, smoking in a car with a child under the age of 16 has been illegal in Australia.

Should we be looking to ban smoking around kids altogether?

Share your comments below.

Sign her petition here

Image via change.org

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  • I am a non smoker and it would be interesting to know the statistics of where smoking is actually occurring. Surely once the stats are known there could be targeted campaigns which hopefully would be effective in combatting smoking and the second effects of smoking.

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  • It could be enforced in public areas if we had the people to monitor it. One girl I went to school with always got a bad asthma attack if she got smoke in her face and sometimes it was her own parents that were at fault. When she was old enough she would walk away from them. Nopt only are little ones getting it from the smoker exhaling it they are also getting it directly from the burning cigarette or whatever they are smoking. I also know a little boy whose croup was sometimes triggered by cigarette smoke from his Dad. It was always worst at weekends when Dad was home and they curled up together on the sofa with Dad smoking. My Dad was a smoker – one at a time – not a chain smoker. He always went outside to smoke, he never held us or played with us while he was smoking. I’m not saying we weren’t affected at all but we weren’t literally inhaling remnants of it.

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  • Good idea, but so long as smoking is legal, I don’t know w ou’d enforce it.

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  • Wouldn’t it be great if everyone just had the bloody common sense not to do it? My favourite is when I took my son to the park and 2 mums with about 10 kids between them were chain smoking and drinking V next to the playground and discussing how damaging vaccines are.

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  • Smoking should be banned around everyone, including pets. Enforcing it is another matter.

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  • I don’t think this is possible. Then the government should also ban all bad fumes and chemicals from the environment and all bad processed foods high in sugar and fats, that cause a risk to our health.

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  • Good idea. I hope she gets lots of support.

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  • This should just be a given!

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  • I agree that smoking around children should be completely avoided at all costs, so detrimental to their health.

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  • I don’t know how this will go, but I completely agree. Smoking around children is disgusting.

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  • I don’t think this will be possible but any sensible and responsible adult knows not to smoke around children.


    • Exactly – responsible smokers should do it away from others.

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  • I think it would be a great idea!!

    Reply

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