Smoking-related attitudes and behaviors of parents of fourth grade students

In an attempt to determine the effect of tobacco education homework on the smoking behavior and/or attitudes of parents of fourth graders, a sample of students was given homework assignments at the beginning of the school year with which their parents had agreed to help. A control sample had the regular tobacco education unit, with no homework assignments. A follow-up survey at the end of the school year revealed that for parents who had been cigarette smokers at the beginning of the school year, those in the homework sample (n = 215) reported smoking fewer cigarettes and a greater reduction in smoking than those in the nonhomework sample (n = 89). While parents in the two samples did not differ in their general attitude toward cigarette smoking, those in the homework sample were more opposed to their children starting to smoke at a later time and more approving of tobacco education introduced as early as the fourth grade.