I did a program last night where I had six kids who ranged from 14 to 17 years of age who were sentenced in by the local court system for being caught smoking. Normally I feel that many of the kids who get "stuck" in my programs under these conditions often walk away with a deeper appreciation of the problem they are facing--some even seeming appreciative that they had the opportunity to learn the facts that I covered in the session. I didn't get that feeling last night.

In the original article above I wrote, "Yes there are some kids that no matter what you teach them will not listen to any amount of reason." I am afraid that most of the kids from last night fit into this category. Often when I do these programs I pop up posts the next day that I think might help the program participants in the event they look over the site. I don't think that there is much of a chance of that happening with this group.

It really comes down to showing the importance of reaching young people before they are smoking, for once they are in the grip of an active addiction it is a whole lot more difficult to reason with them.