To want smoking banned in public playgrounds

[onadietcokebreak]

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)

....plus it stinks. Which I think I have mentioned once or twice!

I would only say smokers are considered lepers in some situations, not all Salmotrutta In parks and some public spaces (and on MN), yes, but when I have been out on the town I have had some of my best random conversations with strangers in the smokers corner or beer garden. People you wouldn't look at twice at the bar are suddenly potential chat buddies for 5 minutes simply because you share a common vice. In those situations, smokers unite in a fog of our own creation and merrily break down the walls of social convention, suits mixing with trackie trousers, pipes chatting to filter tips. It is quite a beautiful thing wells up

Lots of things stink MmaIvvy - car fumes, perfume, air fresheners, cleaning chemicals, spicy food, blah blah......... I'd ban most of them but I recognise people's right to use cars, perfume, spices and chemicals.
IMO the smell isn't the thing that most people worry about. Smell is not dangerous after all.

All smokers are very well aware of the health risks - most smokers try to be considerate. Don't paint us all the same. That p*es me off and I won't be "scolded" thank you.

It is banned in the playgrounds where we live. Problem is that there are always some people who think that the rule doesn't apply to them .

I'm always amazed that people think smoking at others is ok because other pollutants exist, and that children should move from the equipment they are playing with to allow the smoker free rein. And the smell is just ewwwww - hate it , hate it.

Pious - I agree, I've had great chats with fellow lepers smokers outside. Much more fun than the po-faced moral brigade inside.

Well I am not a smoker so other than the occassional encounter with smokers in public, I don't need to worry about any of the other things luckily for me, so actually the stink is the thing that gets to me the most when I do come across it. I was simply agreeing with OP that I hate it when people smoke around me and my kids and saying why.

I hope you were not telling me not to scold you as my comments were not personally aimed at anyone including you, so I won't be 'scolded' either thank you.

Such a stupid argument that people "didn't know the risks when we were kids". For most people on here - the risks were WELL known when we were kids - !950s???

I was born in 1977 - risks well known then. Last less than 6 years that smoking mafia started.

and for the record DH smokes in the evenings, but NEVER in the house or near me or the kids and has chewing gum or brushes his teeth after as even he says himself that he stinks.

And as for influences - My dad smoked when I was young (is now militant anti smoker, but still!) - I spent most of my formative years around smokers in a boarding school house masters' common room, as I lived in a well known public school til I was 12.

Oh, you may say, so that's why she smokes - parental/involved adult influence! Except that none of my brothers smoke, and my mum never has...

I think the important thing that is perhaps being a little overlooked here is that both sides are talking about some smokers, yet taking the other side to be referring to all smokers. I am sure we would all agree that banning inconsiderate smokers would be fine and dandy (although entirely unenforceable) but if we were talking about any other subject, to say that because a few cannot do it reasonably, it should be banned for all, there would be uproar!

I smoke. I chose not to smoke around children. I get pissed off at people smoking near my DC. That doesn't make me a hypocrite, it makes me a rational person who has consideration for others. I think the issue here is not whether it should be legal to smoke in public places, but whether it is considerate to do so. It isn't, so one shouldn't do it. Talk of policing what should be a moral obligation makes me very uncomfortable.

What does !950s mean? 1950's? Well if people did know the risks of smoking in front of kids (and i mean at home and on a regular basis not the odd exposure in public) and still chose to do it around them every day then I think that's even worse than simply not knowing or understanding the harm they could cause them.

Do some people still smoke in front of their children then?

The few remaining smokers that I know, all pretend to their children that they don't :o

It can get quite farcical at times...

"your mum? She was here a minute ago...oh yes, think she went to the shop. Again"

Ooo I'd forgotten the "smoking is such a sociable habit because us naughty l lepers are in it together " line.

Like you need a cancer stick in your gob to chat to people

In my experience, it's more like being a social pariah these days.

Great - the more marginalised smoking is the better. Same as any substance misuse.

YANBU at I think it is abhorrent that people are trying to justify this and that people smoke around their children. Second hand smoking is more damaging than smoking. why should I or my child have to endure it because you are a selfish and irresponsible person?

Bloody rediculous.

Yes cars pollute, but smoking is something you can actually keep to yourself and not inflict on others. We need cars as a society in this day and age, we do not need cigarettes.

All the people who I know who smoke and have children smoke in front of them when outside. Just not when their kids are on their knee.

Um - yeah !950s did mean 1950s - it was a typo - only a dirty smoker could've done it!

Oh and why should it be limited to not smoking around children? I am an adult and don't want to breathe in your second hand fumes at a bus stop or while walking behind you in a public area.

Oh and I live in a rural area and don't drive; you don't have to. You can walk a lot (village shop 3 miles - not far) and know that that very rare ambulance polllution is unlikely for those "necessary" journeys. Coughs at your 4x4.

YABTFU you nutcase!

If you're worried about toxic particles in the air your PB breathes, read some proper information about what's in the air all around us all the time ... On second thoughts, don't! You'd have your kid in an oxygen tent full-time

The human race survives due to its incredible adaptability. Appreciate your child's miraculous ability to utilise what's useful in their environment and eliminate the rest :)

I don't "need" a car, any more than you don't "need" cigs.