Sumatran toddler, Ardi Rizal, reportedly has a two-pack-a-day cigarette habit that his parents say they are unable to break. The small child is still in diapers and his smoking habit is more severe than many adults. His parents report he smokes around 40 cigarettes a day and they cannot stop him. There is even a video released of the smoking toddler which is quite shocking.
According to the original tale by the Metro (UK), the boy was given his first cigarette by his dad, Mohammed Rizal, 30, at the age of 18 months. The family says the boy throws tantrums if he is not given his 2 packs a day.
His mother, 26 year ancient Diana says, “He’s really addicted. If he doesn’t get cigarettes, he gets mad and screams and batters his head against the wall. He tells me he feels dizzy and sick.”
Experts will agree that these are all classic signs of addiction but why hasn’t the couple sought help for their child’s problem? Mohammed, the boy’s father, seems unconcerned with Ardi’s smoking and said “He looks pretty healthy to me. I don’t see the problem”.
Ardi is clearly overweight for his age of only 2 years and cannot get around like the other children. Instead of running and playing, he uses a toy truck to navigate and continues to smoke his cigarettes.
Reports say that local officials have offered to buy the family a car if Ardi can kick his habit but it doesn’t appear the family is interested in taking up that offer.
Dad clearly has no problem with the boy smoking and mom’s excuse of “he throws a tantrum” is pretty weak, at best. What mother hasn’t had her child throw a tantrum at some point? Giving in to the unhealthy whims of a 2 year ancient child is not excellent parenting, no matter how you look at it. This entire family needs help.
Unfortunately, Sumatra may have larger issues to deal with that one addicted 2 year ancient. Since the 7.7 earthquake that hit Sumatra, Indonesia on April 7, 2010, residents of the area have been trying to recover from the quake, as well as the after-effects. Residences collapsed, leaving many homeless in an already impoverished area. There have also been reports of child abuse and neglect, starvation, child workers and more.
Smoking is clearly very harmful to adults and even more so to children whose young bodies are still developing. Studies have shown that even second hand smoke can cause asthma, increase in risk for SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), pneumonia, and other health concerns to an infant or small child. Just imagine how greatly those risks increase when the child is literally smoking the cigarettes!
You can see the video and the full tale from the NY Daily news.
Sources:
NY Daily News
UK Metro
Lisa Mason is a freelance writer and social media marketer with more than 12 years of experience. As VP of Special Media for Social Media Sun, she makes sure that readers have access to the most relevant and… View profile
