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AIBU?

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Original poster

To want smoking banned in public playgrounds

219 replies

onadietcokebreak · 28/04/2011 19:04

why should I remove my child because a smoker ( two in my case today) thinks it's okay to smoke in a small enclosed playground.

Can't they wait til their children have finished? Bloody selfish in my opinion ( as a ex smoker)

OP posts:
Original poster
onadietcokebreak · 28/04/2011 19:30

Worraliberty your poor ds.

Exactly why should a child have to avoid a fag end

OP posts:
MissBetsyTrotwood · 28/04/2011 19:31

Grin moondog.

I'm not saying it should be banned everywhere , in all public places. But kid's playgrounds are different. If I take my DCs to the pub or a cafe and we sit in the garden, and people are smoking then fine - it's a mixed environment. But to light up in a children's playground is too much imo.

pjmama · 28/04/2011 19:31

The point is, whether you agree that smoking in a playground is harmful or not (which I believe it is, but accept that many smokers refute that), it IS extremely offensive and very unpleasant to many people. It's not difficult to move away a bit and make sure you're downwind, or wait until later. To not do so is selfish IMO. If all smokers were more considerate, (as many of them are but the minority are not), then they probably wouldn't get moaned about so much and we'd all be much happier! Grin

squeakytoy · 28/04/2011 19:32

On a still day like today my child was exposed. It didn't blow away. The daft bint was blowing it away from her children into my child.

Why were you so close to her?

I can see the point that it would be a bit off to push your kid on a swing while you have a fag in your mitts, and be blowing smoke right into their face, but if someone is a few feet away from you, then I cannot see how it would affect you or your child.

If anyone could breathe in my smoke, they would certainly be way too close and invading my personal space.

lilyliz · 28/04/2011 19:32

I take it if you need to be there with them they are quite small,do you walk on a pavement next to a road? if so the exhaust fumes will do more damage than the odd ciggie.

Original poster
onadietcokebreak · 28/04/2011 19:32

What annoys me is the comparison with BBQ and Bonfires.

It is my choice to take my child to one if those. It is not my choice if a smoker sparks up.

OP posts:
geraldinetheluckygoat · 28/04/2011 19:33

I dont smoke, it doesn't worry me tbh, not when out in the open...

amberleaf · 28/04/2011 19:33

Open air playground yes?

I too would be more worried about car fumes than fag smoke tbh

catchmeifyoucan · 28/04/2011 19:35

Grin at squeaky. Honestly to goodness - if it's not crap DH, mental MIL or proactive teachers upsetting your precious DC then it's the oh-so-boring smoking Police. I swear you lot just can't bear to see anyone else chilling out and relaxing.
I think you should put them all in protective bubbles tbh but then what would you moan about?

Oh - by the way - peanut butter might be carcinogenic. That's if they're not allergic to it first!

Original poster
onadietcokebreak · 28/04/2011 19:35

Why was I so close to her? My ds was on a rocker. She moved closer to him. This playground is v small. I was sat on bench ( pregnant, feeling faint, waiting for lift) as soon as she sparked up I walked over. She was already puffing over my ds.

OP posts:
catchmeifyoucan · 28/04/2011 19:36

You think she was purposely puffing over your DS? Seriously - I think all the chemicals in your diet coke have eaten a bit of your brain away.

squeakytoy · 28/04/2011 19:36

What annoys me is the comparison with BBQ and Bonfires

It is my choice to take my child to one if those. It is not my choice if a smoker sparks up

It is your choice not to move away if they do.

Salmotrutta · 28/04/2011 19:38
zookeeper · 28/04/2011 19:38

My first thought on reading the op was to think she was being ridiculous. However, maybe if smoking had not been the norm when I was growing up then i would not have spent twenty years of my adult life smoking.

I hope with time we will come to see smoking anywhere, never mind a playground as as wrong as injecting drugs. Maybe then less lives will be ruined by it

I would be heartbroken if my children started to smoke. IMO anything that normalises smoking has to be a bad thing.

nethunsreject · 28/04/2011 19:39

Yanbu.

It is a smelly, disgusting habit.

No need to do it in a play area.

tanmu82 · 28/04/2011 19:39

YANBU

pjmama · 28/04/2011 19:39

What happened to consideration for others and good manners?

If it happens again, go stand next to her and fart loudly in her ear. Eat plenty of curry and garlic the night before, to make sure it's a good one.

moondog · 28/04/2011 19:41

No Zoo, if you had exercised an active choice you wouldn't have been on the fags. Don't blame others for your bad habits. Take responsibility.

Original poster
onadietcokebreak · 28/04/2011 19:41

I never said she was purposely puffing over my ds. But she was puffing over him.

I had no where else in the playground to take it, a bloke had sparked up by the slide frame.

It's not about anti smokers v smokers. It's about consideration for childrens health. You may be happy to smoke around your children but you should respect other peoples children enough not to.

OP posts:
Sirzy · 28/04/2011 19:44

I think in a childs play area it should be a smoke free zone. But I say that as a parent of an asthmatic who is triggered by smoke (and he has yet to go to either a BBQ or bonfire as he is only 17 months) so it causes problems for him.

I accept you cant avoid it everywhere but somewhere designed for children you should be able to.

Computermouse · 28/04/2011 19:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

catnao · 28/04/2011 19:45

I think you are being a BIT unreasonable. Because unless the playground was TINY, you must have been able to be a little bit away from the smoker, and you say it was open air - so surely no real risk - I think that there are a lot of people who hate smoking per se, which is fine, but then try and describe their hatred as "worry about danger" when really, the risk is minimal and the real problem is - "I hate smoking. I disapprove of smokers. I do not want to SEE smoking, let alone have a brief smell of it". Maybe.

moondog · 28/04/2011 19:46

Yes, pretending the odd whiff of fag smoke is detrimental to a child's health.
Utter precious bollocks

PiousPrat · 28/04/2011 19:48

I don't see that it is that hard to keep fags away from kids TBH. As I previously said, I smoke. I don't smoke around my kids though so don't see why it would suddenly be acceptable to do it around other people's kids. It really doesn't take that much effort to be aware of your surroundings and only smoke in appropriate places. For example, if I am on a crowded street, I don't smoke. If it is a street that only has a few people on it then I will merrily light up, but if someone walks towards me with a child, I will cup it so if they do knock into me, they hit my hand, not a lit fag and I either don't take a drag, or if I see them coming after I have inhaled, then I would blow it out quickly before I got to them or hold it until they have passed so they don't end up with smoke in their face.

Mind you, it isn't just kids, I am just more aware of it when kids are around. I do the same for anyone, of any age, passing me as I think it is just common courtesy.

It doesn't really require much effort from me and I certainly am not arrogant enough to think that my right to smoke is greater than anyone else's right to not have to breathe in my exhaled smoke.

winnybella · 28/04/2011 19:48

YANBU.

Why should OP move her DS away from a smoker in a playground?
Ans as someone mentioned, nothing more annoying than when you sit down with a baby in a pram and someone sits close to you and blows the smoke over said baby.

I am a smoker, but it wouldn't cross my mind to light up in a playground.

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