This study examined the role of parents in the initiation of smokeless tobacco use by adolescent and pre-adolescent males. The subjects were 106 6th–9th grade students who were not current smokeless tobacco users. Questionnaires were administered measuring subjects intention to use smokeless tobacco, their expectations of how their parents would respond if they discovered them using smokeless tobacco, parents' use of smokeless tobacco and the existence of parental rules against using smokeless tobacco. Multi-variate analyses of variance revealed that subjects who intended to use smokeless tobacco expected a less aversive response by parents (i.e., less likelihood of punishment, less parental anger and disappointment) than did those who did not intend to use. In addition, intenders were more likely to have fathers who used smokeless tobacco, and were less likely to report parental rules prohibiting the use of smokeless tobacco. The implications for smokeless tobacco prevention programs are discussed.