Parents who give cigarettes to their children are not only breaking the law, but are also torturing their children and should be heavily penalized, the John Tung Foundation said yesterday.
The foundation also publicized videos in which parents or other adults were seen providing cigarettes to children and babies and laughing as they smoked or coughed after inhaling the smoke.
Photos and videos of young children smoking cigarettes have been posted on the Internet recently.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Lin Ching-li (林清麗), head of the foundation’s Tobacco Hazard Prevention Section, said that in the past four days, the foundation had received more than 20 complaints concerning videos posted by adults who let children smoke cigarettes.
Many of the videos are posted on Internet video sites and popular blog sites and can be found under categories such as “family entertainment” or “learning and growing,” she said.
The foundation said such parenting behavior was irresponsible and was no different from people who record themselves torturing animals and post the video on Web sites.
Parents who allow or even force their children to smoke cigarettes are damaging their children’s health and skewing their children’s behavior, it said.
The foundation said studies showed that the younger a person starts smoking, the more difficult it will be for that person to quit the habit.
People who start smoking before they are 15 years of age are also eight times more likely to develop lung cancer, the foundation said.
“Parents should realize that they are responsible for their children’s welfare,” Sun Yue (孫越), a celebrity who is now a volunteer at the foundation, said. “Parents should not find entertainment or happiness at the expense of their children’s health.”
The foundation said adults who provide tobacco to children were in violation of the Children and Youth Welfare Act (兒童及少年福利法), an offense punishable by a fine of between NT$10,000 and NT$50,000.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
RSS