[Jimmy the Pro]

Understand that there is a wall between kids and the characters on the screen. As to how impressionable that influence will be to the children depends on the type of children watching.

I find that parenting is very important in this circumstance. When parents do not take a stand to smoking or do not educate kids of the danger or at least even give them a talk about smoking in general, then the kids are more likely to be influenced by what they see on the screen. Information is more than half the battle and if you want to make sure kids are not influenced by what they see on the screen I would urge for more authoratative (not authoritarain) style parenting rather than the lax parenting styles as of late.

Now as for giving a child cigs on the street. If a child cannot reason for themselves (think about the consequences) of such an action why would we do that to them? We might as well just give them guns in case they need protection because they will do the same thing with the guns as the smokes, namely damage.

Smoking laws exist for a reason and are inforced because there is a time and place for everything. Until maturation has set in and these children can think for themselves, I don't think offering them smokes is a good idea.

Then again I suppose tobacco companies would also have no trouble offering the mentally handicapped smokes...