To think that TA's shouldn't smoke in view of children in their class?

[donkeyderby]

DH went on a school trip and one of the TA's lit up a fag near the kids - not right next door, but close enough for them to see. What would you do?

"I will say something directly to the staff member if I see them do it (it was DH who witnessed it)".

I hope you're prepared to be told to mind your own business if you do, just in case the TA is as firm on her right to act as an adult as I am.

What next? Running down the road after someone to berate them because they walked past your PDC DC whilst legally smoking a cigarette?

Covering your PDC's DC's eyes as they walk past a pub garden near to his school for fear that his teachers may be... shock, horror... having a pint and a cigarette in full view of passers-by?

I think it is unprofessional and would have a quiet word with the teacher. Yes, celebs smoke, yes people smoke in the street, but to smoke while looking after children, in their sight, is just not on.

I wouldn't use a childminder that smoked either.

Children look up to key people in their lives and these people should set a better example.

Vallhala, I think you and others here are confusing smoking when outside of work and smoking while at work. The latter is the unprofessional bit, isn't it? Of course people are free to smoke, eat olives and brie (eh?) in their free time, but most schools must SURELY have a policy that bans smoking while at work, in front of children!

If it bothers you that much i would find the TA next time your at school and say in a cheery voice 'i didnt realise you smoked ' , i know as an ex smoker i actually hated people knowing i smoked ,even though i probably reeked of fags and would probably been enough to make me cringe for the rest of the day ,and be alot more discreet in future

God you have got to laugh. I smoke, and I make a point of telling mums of ds's pals that I smoke, so their choice if they want their kids to come to ours for a play date. Amazing how their smoking policy goes out the window when the chance of three hours child free time comes up

It's like the non smokers saying they needed smoke free pubs, and then when they got them, never darkened their atmospherless doors ever again.

When are people going to stop trying to busy body into every area of their children's lives. It's tedious.

but dd she wasn't at the school
why didn't your dh just say something at the time?

YABU but then my three year old is on twenty Benson and Hedges a day so am not the best judge

tbh I thought it was normal for teens to see people smoking(and hate it)

I do think it is a bit unprofessional however I don't think it is that big a deal as a one off. Presuming she doesn't smoke on playground duty/on trips regularly?

My dds are fascinated by smoking I think because they rarely see people smoking. dd1 (6) told me that her headteacher was smoking outside the local shops - another child claimed to have seen him.

I just said to her that Mr B is entitled to a private life and what he does on his lunch break/after school is entirely his own business.

Having said that if it is true then his choice of venue probably wasn't altogether wise as a load of primary school children will no doubt be commenting/giving him mini lectures etc.

Well, I think it is unprofessional and she should be out of sight of the pupils, whether on an official break or not.

What difference does it make if it is a special school? I didn't get that bit.

But to get her sacked is way OTT. Requested not to do it again, yes.

It is normal for teens to see people smoking, but teachers are meant, to some extent, to be modelling good behaviours for any pupils. What they do at home is their business, but what they do in front of the kids is a matter of professional etiquette. As I said, I think it's unprofessional.

DH wasn't that bothered, just a bit surprised, hence him not saying anything. I am more annoyed than him. I have spent years trying not to smoke and years working in jobs where you don't smoke in front of your 'clients' or customers. I used to have to climb onto a roof at one of the hospitals I worked in, to have a crafty fag! Why can't the TA suffer for her horrible habit like I did?

but he will see people smoking all over the place.
surely it is a good chance to have the "smoking is bad" chat

donkeyderby I am astonished at your post at 11.58. It reeks of envy and pettiness. Maybe you really want to smoke still? If so, go ahead, it's perfectly legal.

Wishing the TA to suffer is silly. Unless you ARE joking?

My comments are from a professionalism POV. Which I stand by. A TA who is "on duty" shold not, IMO, be smokingin front of the children she is caring for. Doesn't matter about the proximity. They should not be in view of the children if they are on duty.

In many schools this would be a cause for disciplinary action.

cupcakes - I only allow my dc to smoke roll ups these days, their habit was getting so expensive.

If only that damn TA at school hadn't smoked in their presence, they'd never have started in the first place.

I'm loling at the "1970's" comment - I wasn't born until the last year of the 70's and I remember in my teenage years knocking on the staffroom door to have it opened with a cloud of smoke behind.

And the head teacher sat at the bottom of the stairs in the boarding house and smoked his pipe - it was a huge Edinburgh town house so the pipe smoke wafter all the way up the stairs.

What would those of you who think the op is no BU do if you were out some where totally separate from school and bumped into one of the teachers (or TA's) smoking??

That wouldn't bother me - the teacher or TA are not at work, so can do what they like in their own time.

Perfumed, you guessed it. I WAS joking...

Hulababy, I think you've got it right. I thought it would be a straightforward and big no-no to smoke on duty in front of your charges. I can't quite believe so many people think it's ok.

YANBU - I can't wait until smoking is banned outright. Until then I'd be pissed off if someone who was supposed to be supervising/interacting with kids was concentrating on their fag - presumably the non smokers are the ones left to do the supervising etc ? Bit like the smokers I work with who used to leave their colleagues to pick up the slack whilst they had yet another fag. I think in most schools nowadays, smoking in front of kids WOULD constitute a disciplinary offence - presumably that applies to activities outside the school grounds as well. Poison yourself all you like in your own time - don't do it when you're supposed to be part of a team looking after kids.