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Children smoking is accepted once a year in a village in Portugal, for a celebration.
STATES CHRONICLE – Signs and posts that recommend people to quit smoking are on display almost everywhere these days. At least one health campaign to stop smoking is permanently ongoing in most countries.
With these regulations, the rate of smokers is seemingly decreasing every year. Despite this fact, in a small Portuguese village, children smoking is a tradition that has been encouraged and kept for centuries.
People Outraged to See Children Smoking
During the celebration of the Epiphany in the Vale de Salgueiro, Portugal, parents encourage their children to smoke. Even kids as young as 5 year old can do so during this celebration.
These festivities start on Friday and end the next day. The Epiphany is a Christmas festival in which people dance around bonfires, play music, and share snacks and wines.
Outsiders frown upon one of its traditions, that of children smoking. Locals from the village mentioned that this tradition has around for many generations. Despite this, none of them knows for sure what it symbolizes or stands for. Although the legal age for buying tobacco is 18 in Portugal, authorities don’t intervene in this case.
Parents are not prevented from letting their children smoke during the celebration. They mentioned that this is the only time a year they let their kids do this thing.
People who participate in this celebration also stated that they are just accustomed to children smoking during the Epiphany. Parents seemingly don’t see something wrong with this.
Most of them are not concerned with its becoming a habit because they explained that their children are not really smoking. They also mentioned that this only happens once a year so they don’t believe it can be harmful for their health.
Although 90% of smokers first started smoking when they were underage, the incidence of smoking in this village is not higher when compared to other parts of Portugal. This village is one of several who still keep most of the old traditions and it is known as the forgotten one.
Image Source: Wikimedia
