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2 Year Old Smoking Cigarette: Holy Smokes!
Video of a 2-year-old smoking cigarettes is making the Internet rounds today and we are not amused. In the disturbing video, little Ardi Rizal mugs for the camera, blowing kisses and acting like a typical toddler caught on camera. Except for the part where he repeatedly takes a drag from the lit cigarette he holds in his chubby little hand.
At an age when most parents wouldn’t let their child near a hot stove, this kid is smoking (and smoking like a pro, I might add) a burning stick of cancer-causing tobacco. What the heck is going on here?
EMBED-Ardi Rizal – The real SMOKING BABY !! – Watch more free videos
What’s going on, according to experts, is that Ardi lives in Indonesia, a country where 25 percent of children ages 3-to-15 have tried cigarettes. And of those kids who have given tobacco a shot, 3.2 percent are said to be active, addicted smokers.
Indonesia may be the world’s third-largest tobacco consumer, but why are little kids – babies practically! – lighting up? Seto Mulyadi, chairman of Indonesia’s child protection commission, blames aggressive advertisers and parents who are smokers themselves.
In the case of Ardi, the blame would seem to fall squarely on the shoulders of his father, Mohammad Rizal. He says he gave Ardi his first taste of nicotine at the tender age of 18-months and now the little boy has a 2-pack-a-day habit.
Ardi is already suffering the health consequences of his addiction. He’s too overweight to run and play with the other kids and when he doesn’t get his fix, he complains of feeling dizzy and sick.
So, why don’t his parents force him to kick the habit? His mother says she’s tried but Ardi has a fit when he’s denied his smokes. And dad? Well, despite the fact that the Indonesian government has offered the family a free car if Ardi quits smoking, Mohammad Rizal doesn’t see the problem with his baby smoker. “He looks healthy to me,” he says.
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21 Comments
[...] Strollerderby’s coverage of this for more details including that young children smoking is a national problem in Indonesia! [...]
Two-Year-Old Chain Smoker Lights up Internet | Famecrawler commented on May 27 10 at 2:02 pm[...] 2 Year Old Smoking Cigarettes: Holy Smokes! [...]
Does Barbie Look Different To You? | Strollerderby commented on May 28 10 at 11:21 am[...] news network, the nightly news, and parenting web sites (including this one) all played up the story which was guaranteed to attract [...]
Smoking Toddler: Who Is To Blame? | Strollerderby commented on Jun 01 10 at 9:01 amTD commented on May 27 10 at 2:23 pmOH well,
One less mouth us productive members of society have to feed. He will be dead by the time he reaches grade school at the rate he is going.
myob commented on May 27 10 at 4:48 pmhmmm.. how horrible. i understand the outrage. even though it doesnt effect me in any way. i just like having nothing better to do than worry about other peoples children. i mean what kind of world would this be if i couldnt stick my nose into everyone elses business… what ever would i do all day? may i could try minding my own business for a change…. hmmmm
Tia commented on May 27 10 at 7:07 pmWow…He is adorable. Its so sad that someone taught him that disgusting habit.
Ri-chan commented on May 27 10 at 9:47 pmTD and myob are mean….letting a 2 year old smoke should be considered child abuse. Myob, I’m sure that’s what people do when they see parents hitting their babies and then say “I didn’t want to get involved” when the babies wind up beaten to death.
anon commented on May 27 10 at 10:49 pmWow what crazy parents. The saddest thing is that if he does end up passing away or being inflicted with some kind of cancer caused by smoking, by the time he has a chance to find out what smoking could do to a person, he’ll be suffering the consequences that his parents have created for him.
j commented on May 28 10 at 11:10 amThat is so sad! Weird that a 2 year old is coordinated enough to do that… But again, so sad that the parents don’t care or know how terrible for their son’s health this is.
squidoo queen commented on May 28 10 at 11:33 amit’s not funny & entertaining seeing parents allow their kids to do tjose stupid stuff. & to think the parents have the guts to broadcast it…tsk, tsk, tsk
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fclm commented on May 28 10 at 11:37 amparents should attend to their children’s well-being, not expose them to the “ugliness” this world has to offer…
fclm
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Ben commented on May 28 10 at 11:27 pmWhere can I meet him? I’m instantly a fan…LMAO
momoftwogirls commented on May 29 10 at 4:03 pmThis is the consequence when ignorant,uneducated people reproduce. That child deserves better! He should be immediately removed from his parents’ home!
Lisa commented on May 29 10 at 10:34 pmI felt sick watching this but at the same time find it interesting that this has been made public; it raises awareness of this horrible problem. Did we North Americans ever imagine this kind of thing happening elsewhere in the world?
Marissa.W commented on May 30 10 at 2:22 pmI’m shocked!It’s not the child’s fault that his parents had made an inappropiate choice.This child deserves the gift of life.
Perilous commented on May 30 10 at 7:27 pmWhile I agree wholeheartedly that this is flatly atrocious, what obesity has to do with it is beyond me. Smoking does not cause obesity. Just as dangerous to the health of children as tobacco smoking is the instillation of body insecurity and eating disorders. Dieters routinely smoke to AVOID gaining weight. The obesity epidemic is making children every bit as sick as tobacco addition would and does, and it requires a hell of a lot more intervention to break eating disorders, which almost always cause lifetime issues. Kicking tobacco is far easier than successfully conquering an eating disorder.
If you want your child to be healthy, teach them to be healthy and dont allow unhealthy behaviours to take root. Instilling unfounded paranoias, fears and mental imbalances is not the way to ensure your child will never engage in unhealthy behaviour. Get your science right.
TG commented on May 31 10 at 1:21 amChill. He is not 2 he is 47 with child development disorder. If he points his water gun at me and orders me to bring him a fresh milk, I would… tell ya, this guy will shoot you with no hesitation! (><)
Maxine B. commented on Jun 02 10 at 1:26 pmWow, I am so saddened for this innocent baby. I can only imagine at what age his parents will be introducing him to unprotective sex, alcohol, drugs, you name it. As for the government who supposidly offered his parents a new car if they made the baby kick the habbit, clearly there is no welfare system for this child because you don’t bargain with the two idiots that are allowing this action, especially the father who initiated the process for his own son.A real system would have taken action action against the parents and have the baby removed from the unsafe home. Who would be to blaim if they decide to show him how to use a hand gun and he begins to just shoot people when he can’t have his way? i suppose no action would be taken unless it would affect someone of their own peers. someone mentioned high school dropouts, pleeease……. I’m not a high school dropout but at this point I think they are to be given more credit than this because even they know this is just wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hippe jones commented on Jun 02 10 at 2:02 pmLet the kid and his family make their own decision maybe they will learn a lesson by this whole thing
Brittany commented on Jun 23 10 at 7:34 pmGive them a car if he quits? How about take away the poor kid, that is abuse!
Madison commented on Jul 05 11 at 1:34 pmHis parents disgust me
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