British School Bans Smoking — For Teachers Only

I don’t think anyone, these days, thinks that smoking is a good thing and the ability to smoke in public is being severely restricted in order to protect non-smokers from the effects of second-hand smoke.  So it makes perfect sense that Headlands School in Penarth, near Cardiff, Wales, bans teachers from smoking at school.  It may be a challenge for the teachers to make it through the day without lighting up, but I’d say it’s an important sacrifice to make and an excellent example to set for the students.

Contrary to such a noble policy, however, the school has considered setting up an outdoor shelter to be designated as a smoking area.  For students.  Yep, adult teachers are not allowed to smoke at school but the teenage students are.  To be fair, it is a boarding school and the seven students in question are in a “smoking reduction programme” wherein teachers monitor the students’ smoking habit by locking away “smoking implements” and controlling access.

Still, I wonder if setting up a smoking shelter would give the students the right message.  Perhaps it would be more in line with the idea of a smoking reduction plan to make the kids stand out in the rain when they wanted to smoke, or maybe even in the middle of a mosquito-infested swamp or something.  In any case, I’m not sure that saying “don’t smoke” while providing a dry, comfy place to do it would be all that effective.  Or am I completely missing something here?

Photo: ardelfin

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Tags: Britain, cigarettes, school, schools, smoking, Wales