Your Guide to a Smokefree Spring Break

Spring break should mean fun for kids everywhere. Unfortunately for young Oklahomans, there’s no guarantee of smokefree air. Safeguarding against secondhand smoke is critical for a healthy spring break. Below, we share tips on choosing the right hotels and daycares, the facts behind smoke-filled car rides and conversation starters on sharing secondhand smoke’s harmful effects.

Know Where They’ll Go

You avoid secondhand smoke with your kids, but what can you do when you aren’t around? This spring break, know which friends and relatives they’ll be visiting and chat with adults about the dangers of secondhand smoke. Make your expectations clear — you want the best for your kids, and secondhand smoke isn’t part of the plan. No need to be confrontational. A friendly chat is all it takes. Learn more about secondhand smoking conversation starters.

Be Picky When Picking a Daycare

If you drop the little ones off at daycare, consider this: in Oklahoma, smoking is permitted at in-home daycares when kids aren’t present. Why should you care? Tobacco smoke residue contains toxins that affect child development. Kids can be harmed by touching contaminated toys, floors and walls — or by putting objects in their mouths. To keep your kids safe this spring break, choose a 100% smokefree daycare.

Cracking the Window Isn’t Enough

In Oklahoma, smoking with kids in the car is still legal. Smoking just half a cigarette inside a vehicle can produce secondhand smoke levels 10 times higher than EPA hazardous limits. Cracking or rolling down the window isn’t enough to protect young lungs. This spring break, make sure your kids are never exposed to secondhand smoke inside a vehicle.

Drive Right Past the Smokey Inn

Did you know some hotels in Oklahoma aren’t 100% smokefree? Smoke can travel through ventilation and hallways to pollute your air — even in a nonsmoking room. When your family’s on break, give your lungs a break too by choosing 100% smokefree accommodations.

Learn more about clean indoor air. With 8 out of 10 Oklahomans supporting a comprehensive smokefree policy in our state, it’s clear our policies are outdated.

Spring into a Smokefree Break

Spring break— it’s the light at the end of winter’s long, cold tunnel. With careful planning and an open dialogue, you can give your family the clean, refreshing air they deserve. Spring break should be a time of boundless adventure. Make sure it’s filled with fresh air… and unforgettable memories!

Join the Fight!

Nearby states protect their residents from secondhand smoke. Why not Oklahoma? Learn how we can all work together to strengthen Oklahoma’s protections against secondhand smoke and give everyone the right to breathe clean air. Click here to join the fight.

Published by Tobacco Stops With Me on March 1, 2020

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