The mother who gets her 13-year-old to behave... by giving her cigarettes



Teenager Sam Holt's behaviour would leave most parents in despair - drinking, smoking, taking drugs and having sex.

But the 13-year-old's mother thinks it is 'sweet' rather than shocking.

Tracy Holt even rewards her daughter with cigarettes on the rare occasions when she does behave.

Unorthodox: Sam Holt and her mother Tracy light up together

Miss Holt, 43, knows Sam drinks but is just relieved that it's not more than a couple of cans of lager a night.

And she decided not to get angry about her daughter losing her virginity at 12, instead insisting that Sam uses contraception.

Miss Holt, a jobless single mother with two other adult children, told Closer magazine: 'I don't see the point in punishing her.

'If I ground her, I'm just punishing myself because I have to put up with her in the house. Instead, I reward her good behaviour by giving her cigarettes. If she's bad, she goes without.

'She's a little comedian. I let her get away with a lot of cheek. It's sweet.'

Giving out cigarettes as a reward 'works', she insisted.

Miss Holt said: 'There are a lot worse things she could be doing.

'We've all got to die sometime. I haven't got cancer from smoking so she'll probably be all right anyway.'

Sam 'only drinks a couple of cans a night'

Miss Holt explained away her daughter's under-age sex. 'I didn't punish her,' she said. 'It wasn't a one-night stand. She had been dating the guy for a couple of weeks.

'I took her to the doctor's the next day to get her on the Pill. I've told her to use condoms as well.'

Sam admits having had four sexual partners in less than a year but said: 'I only sleep with boyfriends. I worry about getting pregnant because I don't want kids until I'm married so I always use condoms.'

The teenager claims being given cigarettes for her 15-a-day habit has helped her behaviour.

Sam said: 'If Mum tells me to tidy my room, I ignore her but if she offers me a fag, I do it.'

Miss Holt, who smokes 20 a day, also appears relaxed about her daughter's other pastimes. She said: 'Sam often hangs out with her mates on the streets and they'll drink lager and smoke pot.

'I think she only drinks a couple of cans a night, so I'm lucky she isn't a proper drunk.

'She smokes a joint every now and then. I don't think she's tried anything harder.'

Sam's record at school would also concern most parents. She has been excluded for bad behaviour more than 40 times.

Miss Holt believes her daughter began to go off the rails after her partner left the family home in Gosport, Hampshire, three years ago.

'Sam got suspended for the first time after she climbed on to the school roof,' she said.

'I shouted at her and then explained she shouldn't climb on roofs because she could fall off. I didn't know what else to do.'

Recalling the moment Sam blurted out that she had lost her virginity when she was just 12, Miss Holt said: 'I thought it was a joke, so I laughed. I was disappointed. No mother wants to know her 12-year-old is having sex but I'm glad she told me. I didn't show I was angry and just kept it to myself.'

Miss Holt blames teachers at Sam's former school for being 'too soft'. She said: 'Now she is at a special school where there are fewer kids in each class.

'Hopefully these teachers will be stricter and she will finally get the discipline that's needed.'