Since when do they let kids SMOKE during their lunch hour??? I drove by a local high school during lunch yesterday and there were kids on the sidewalk smoking! I know a teacher at the school and saw her last night so I asked her about it. She said, yep, the kids claim they *need* to smoke so they let them. WHAT??? I know with the open lunch policy that lets kids leave school grounds to go to Wendy's or McDonalds or whatever, they'd smoke anyway. I also know the elementary and middle schools are "smoke-free" grounds, even for parents. When I was in school we had closed campuses and if anyone tried to smoke they usually got caught and were suspended. Yet another degradation in our public schools.
Thanx for listening to me vent.

By Sandysmom on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 10:19 am:

What a shame. I don't think that open lunch is a good idea either. When I was in school, they had a smoking porch, but the parents had to sign a paper giving their kid permission to go out there. I know that is not available anymore. I'm shocked that the school lets those kids go out and smoke. I wonder if their parents know they are out there smoking. Are these kids 18? I didn't think kids under 18 were allowed to smoke. I thought is was against the law. Another thing I hate is all the junk food available to kids at school. I know kids who will forego a decent meal for 2 peanut butter cups and a soda.

By Breann on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 10:29 am:

Wow! I can't believe they let them do that! Ridiculous!! When I was in high school, there were the "smokers" that would sneak out under the bleachers during lunch and try to smoke. Sometimes they would get caught, sometimes they would get away with it. But, it was definitely against the rules. Unbelievable....

By Tarable on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 11:22 am:

I would think legally that they would have to be over 18. The law states that you have to be 18 to buy or smoke tobacco products.

By Claire on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 11:25 am:

Not allowed here at all.

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 11:48 am:

I'm sure this differs depending on the area and state laws. I went to two different high schools, one in NH and one in PA. At the school in NH there was a designated smoking area in the back of the building. Smoking was permitted in that area during lunch or study halls. The school in PA was much, much stricter. There was an automatic 2 day in school suspension just for getting caught with cigarettes, forget about smoking them.

By Beth on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 12:24 pm:

We had an open lunch and the kids had to smoke off school property. There was a strip of land behind the shopping center that they called smokers corner. I don't know what they do now.

By Kaye on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 12:39 pm:

We had an open lunch, no one smoked on campus. But we all had a place to go, not too far away and not in view. Texas laws are 18 also.

Although I smoked, I hid this very well from my parents, I can't imagine smoking at school, where the teachers would know and may even tell my parents. Boy do we live in a different world!

By Janet on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 12:51 pm:

At our h.s., they have a no smoking policy on campus, but until last year, the kids were able to leave campus at lunch to smoke across the street (there's actually a tree they met at called the smoking tree). Now the lunch is closed, so if they leave campus during the day, they aren't allowed to come back. I think they manage to find places to smoke, though...

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 01:03 pm:

No smoking on any school grounds, where I live. If kids want to smoke, they have to be across the street. There is open lunch at our schools, but nobody drives, so my kids usually stay at school. The only time that Sarah leaves to go eat lunch, is during exams, since they have an hour for lunch.

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 01:42 pm:

No smoking on any school grounds here. I can't believe they can knowingly allow the kids to smoke when it's against the law??? That's baffling. Hiding it and getting caught is one thing, but openly smoking in front of everyone and knowing that it's "okay"? I don't get it. One school here has open lunch, but it's the largest corporation and it's in the city where things are close. The rest of the schools are in the middle of cornfields so open lunch isn't allowed. It takes to long to get anywhere for the most part.

I would HATE knowing that my child was going out and about during an open lunch. That sends chills up my spine.

By Andyjoy on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 02:25 pm:

At my high school, you couldn't smoke on school grounds, so students simply crossed the street to smoke, both between classes and at lunch.

Even though it's illegal unless you're 18, it's a low priority offense for both schools and police. I once saw a police car drive past two obviously underage boys (about 13) who were smoking. You'd think they could spare a few minutes to try to make a difference, but they didn't. This was in a small town, low crime area, too.

By Mrsheidi on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 02:37 pm:

I think it's funny to watch them freeze their a$$es off just to smoke.

If they're not doing it on school grounds, and it's open lunch, the school can't do anything about it. Betcha their parents smoke too...

"Free Will" can be sad, huh? Especially with all the education out there about smoking.

How funny would it be to send an ex-smoker with a voicebox out there to "hang out" with them? Tell them, "Yeah, smoking is SO cool! You can get wrinkles at a much earlier age, get cancer, and talk like ME!" Better yet, someone who breathes through their throat...I'm eeevviill!!

By Kernkate on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 02:56 pm:

Our school has a no smoking policy on school grounds, if caught there is a fine.
And our kids aren't allowed out for lunch.

By Sandysmom on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 05:23 pm:

Since when did schools have an open lunch policy? I've always thought that once on school property it was against the rules to leave unless you were on the work release program or had a Dr. appt. When did this start? Me personally, I think it is a bad idea.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 05:29 pm:

I think Sheboygan has had an open campus, since we have lived here. My high school had an open campus, too, but it was a hike to McDonald's and you barely had time to eat, so we rarely left for lunch.

By Ginny~moderator on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 05:38 pm:

I think that's appalling. Selling or giving cigarettes to kids that age is illegal, and probably the smoking is illegal - and the school is tolerating illegal behavior. What are the rules for your school district? And I agree, generally students should not be allowed to leave the school grounds during the school day, for lunch or anything else.

Greg was caught smoking in 10th grade, and I was called in to school. He got a two day suspension, and a month's grounding from me (and I'm a smoker). What infuriated me was the vice-principal saying to Greg, why didn't you do what the other boys do (his school was an all-boys school then), and go out to the baseball field. Your problem was you were smoking right outside the gym door. As far as I was concerned, Greg's problem was that he was breaking the rules - not the getting caught, but the breaking of the rules - and this VP was telling him it's OK to break the rules, just don't do it where you're likely to get caught.

By Kaye on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 05:56 pm:

We always had an open campus, but only high schoolers were allowed to leave. I don't think I left until I was driving. We did have to sign out as to where we were going. The answer was always "hoffmans" (which is the local store..lol). We were very rarely there for long, and took the long roads.

Heidi you would be suprised about who smokes. Even though I knew it was bad, all that could happen, I knew it wouldn't happen to me. I smoked because the cool kids smoked. My parents were not smokers. My dad apparently smoked prekids but quit, he always made a point to tell us why he quit, etc. Unfortunatly it didn't stop me from making a bad choice. I finally quit, about three years later. I still crave them and it has been about 13 years since I have had a drag.

By Mrsheidi on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 09:02 pm:

Not all kids who smoke have parents who smoke. However, they are more likely to smoke if their parents do as well.

Same goes for swearing, etc.

By Cat on Wednesday, February 14, 2007 - 06:14 pm:

I check our district's policies. The schools have closed campuses so the kids can't leave for lunch or any other reason. ALL schools in the district are tobacco-free zones, so they can't be smoking ON campus. SO, I'm confused. I do know the principle at this school somewhat (he was the principle of the elementary school Randy's in until last year). I just wonder how these kids are getting away with doing this. Do the policies ONLY apply to SOME of the kids SOME of the time? Who gets to pick and choose? I guess you could say I'm a bit bitter because the district tried to stick it to Robin for EVERY little thing, yet these kids are obviously breaking policy and they're looking the other way. Okay, now I'm just venting again. *GRR*