- A toddler boy was seen taking puffs off a lit cigarette as a few adults watch
- A man, said to be a family member, told a woman that the boy learnt from him
- He did not stop the boy but encouraged him and praised him for doing well
A little boy in China has been taught how to smoke expertly by his family member.
Disturbing footage circulating on the Chinese internet shows the toddler taking puffs and playing with the cigarette while a male family member praised him in front of onlookers.
The male family member claimed the boy had learned smoking from him before telling the child ‘well done’.
A toddler boy is seen taking puffs off a lit cigarette as a man and a woman film him in China
The boy, whose identity has not been revealed, can be seen sitting on a ride-on toy in a Chinese city and having a cigarette in his hand.
He inhaled the lit cigarette and held it just like adults would do.
A man who spoke behind the camera told a woman that the toddler was trying to imitate him.
‘Does he look like a pro?’ the man asked.
He then asked the boy what he was doing.
The boy answered: ‘I am smoking.’
The boy dropped the cigarette and the man picked it up for him and let him carry on puffing.
The boy holds the cigarette and inhales it like a proficient smoker (left). The man, believed to be a family member, picks up the cigarette from the floor for him (right)
Web users were shocked to see that the adults were not preventing the boy smoking.
‘They should threw away the cigarette, why would they pick it up on the floor and give it back to him?’ asked web user ‘legorsigui’.
‘Kaixinleguan’ left a comment to recommend children not to smoke as they are still developing.
‘Children are harder to get rid of smoke addiction, please don’t let children smoke, it will only damage their body.’