Smoking Toddler Ardi Rizal

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4c_wI6kQyE&feature=popt00us00]

I’m posting a follow-up about the story of the 2 year old smoking baby who has touched many hearts.  He is just the cutest little boy ever. It seems that the government is intervening now, but I wonder how they are going to impose the rehabilitation of the baby, who is totally addicted to nicotine.

Here’s an extract by Dr K C Kelly on the situation now:

Ardi, lives in the small fishing village of Musi Banyuasin where 25% of children already tried smoking and 3.2% are active smokers. His father gave him his first cigarette at 18-months-old and now Ardi’s mother is trying to get her son to quit.

Seto Mulyadi, chairman of Indonesia’s National Commission for Child Protection, stated, “Smoking has been a part of our culture for so long it isn’t perceived as being hazardous, as causing illness, as poisonous. A lot of adults who are around children will smoke. They will carry a baby in one hand and a cigarette in another. Even mothers don’t understand that they are poisoning their children.”

Diana admitted that her son was an addict. She stated, “He’s crying because he wants a cigarette.” She even showed a scar on Aldi’s head, where he smashed it into a wall during one of his tantrums. Diana also shared that Ardi vomits when he can’t satisfy his addiction.

Mulyadi assessed Ardi as “a bright boy, quicker than most children his age and a victim of his environment.” Although Diana is attempting to get Ardi to stop his smoking habit, her motives were disappointing.

According to Mulyadi, the parent’s motivation to get Aldi to quit smoking wasn’t because of an understanding of the harmful consequences of smoking, especially for a growing child. Instead, the motivation came from the advantage of saving four dollars a day for the average of 40 cigarettes that Ardi smoked.

Written by Dr. Kc Kelly, Ph.D.

About bookjunkie

Blogging about life in Singapore & recently cancer too.
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2 Responses to Smoking Toddler Ardi Rizal

  1. ruthnoakes says:

    I heard about this, nice to read in more detail here. Will have to check out the rest og the blog…am new to wordpress

  2. bookjunkie says:

    Welcome to WordPress Ruth 🙂 So happy you visited!

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