It seems like I’ve read that teen smoking is down. But, that may not be the case if you are the teen of a celebrity.
Just this week, Madonna’s 15-year-old daughter Lourdes Leon was photographed smoking with friends. Now, I’ve never smoked, but some who have may be thinking “What’s the big deal? It’s what you do when you are that age.”
Part of the problem is at only 15; Lourdes shouldn’t be smoking for several reasons. First, she cannot legally buy cigarettes until she is 18. And second of all, we all know – smoking is bad for you.
But, to cut Madonna some slack, Lourdes isn’t the first underage celebrity teen to be caught smoking. If my memory serves me correctly, Francis Bean Cobain (daughter of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love), Rumor, Scout, and Tallulah Willis (daughters of actors Demi Moore and Bruce Willis), Dakota Johnson (daughter of actors Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson), Drew Barrymore (daughter of actors John Drew and Jaid Barrymore – she started smoking at age 9!), and Kate Hudson (daughter of actor Goldie Hawn) have all been caught on camera smoking while under the age of 21. There’s even a photo of Melanie Griffith lighting Dakota Johnson’s cigarette for her when she was only 17. Guess we don’t need to wonder where she gets the bad habit from!
Worse yet, Disney favorite Miley Cyrus was caught with a cigarette in hand last August. While technically she was 19 when the photo was taken, one has to wonder how long Miley, daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus, has been smoking. In her 2009 autobiography “Miles to Go,” Miley said “I would never smoke. I always say that for me, smoking would be like smashing my guitar and expecting it to play. I’d never do that to my voice, not to mention the rest of my body.”
So why are celebrity teens smoking? It could be because it’s just what some do during their teenage years. After all, smoking is still somewhat glorified on television and in film. Maybe it is the stress of living with a celebrity. It could be because their famous parents smoke (although both my parents smoked when I was growing up).
I know it’s hardly the worse thing in the world, but it saddens me to see teens smoking. My best friend has been struggling unsuccessfully for years to quit. And having worked for a tobacco-free coalition, I know how miraculously your body begins to repair itself once you stop smoking.
One actress mom that is trying to set a good example is Michelle Williams. She smoked as little as possible when she played Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn. In real life, Williams stopped smoking, reportedly because she didn’t want to set a bad example for her daughter Matilda.