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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be furious to see one of dd's teachers smoking outside the school gates in full view of school-children arriving

298 replies

pcworld · 16/12/2008 14:13

I appreciate that it is a free country and people have the right to smoke. The teacher in question is not smoking within the school grounds. However ... surely there must be somewhere else for school staff to smoke that is out of view of the children? I am very upset about this! What do others think? I'm unsure how to handle it. I would like to say something to the head - along the lines of suggesting that an appropriate place is provided for staff to smoke in. And at the same time praising the teachers, who we have been really pleased with. Any comments?

OP posts:
mysterymoniker · 17/12/2008 17:32

as long as the teacher can spell, is bright, has a good sense of humour and a genuine enthusiasm for their subject (and the teaching of it) it doesn't really matter does it?

LiffeyCanSpellGeansaiNollaig · 17/12/2008 17:34

Judgemental attitudes?

Newsflash; Smoking is bad for your health. Were you aware of that?

Another newsflash, younger children can really idealise their teachers.

Lotster · 17/12/2008 17:40

some of you clearly missed it the first time

WeWishEWEaMerryXmas · 17/12/2008 17:48

Lotster - that refers to secondary schools, not what we are talking about.

Oh and newsflash: LOADS of things are bad for you... drinking, cholesterol, being overweight, being underweight, a lack of calcium in your diet etc etc

I can't quite understand why teachers are expected to be perfect [genuinely puzzled face]

I guess the people criticising this teacher are absolutely perfect because you can be damn sure that you all have a bigger influence over your children. So NEVER do anything that might be bad for you, ok?

WeWishEWEaMerryXmas · 17/12/2008 17:51

Lotster - that refers to secondary schools, not what we are talking about.

Oh and newsflash: LOADS of things are bad for you... drinking, cholesterol, being overweight, being underweight, a lack of calcium in your diet etc etc

I can't quite understand why teachers are expected to be perfect [genuinely puzzled face]

I guess the people criticising this teacher are absolutely perfect because you can be damn sure that you all have a bigger influence over your children. So NEVER do anything that might be bad for you, ok?

spokette · 17/12/2008 17:53

I see parents smoking outside my DC school but they make sure that they are not near the gate. In fact, I and many parents walk past a pub, a betting shop and a number of cafes on the way to and from school. Guess what, there are always people smoking outside these establishments at the end of the school day.

I suppose I should start a campaign banning them from smoking during school pick up times. That way there is no chance of children being exposed to smoking pond-life. Mind you, there are those who walk the pavements and smoke at the same time. Ah well, I guess we will have to ferry our DC about with a paper bag over their heads

spokette · 17/12/2008 17:54

BTW, how much time does a child actually spend in school with a teacher, compared to the time they spend with their parents? Yep, I thought so.

LurkerOfTheUniverse · 17/12/2008 17:56

yanbu, it's a disgusting habit and ought to be banned outright

of course, as a former fag-ash Lil, I can say that

spokette · 17/12/2008 18:01

And while we are at it, lets ban alcohol because so much crime can be linked to the over-consumption of alcohol plus the bill to the NHS with alcohol related illnesses is rocketing and the fact that so many people die every year from alcohol induced illnesses.

Also, lets ban all biscuits, cakes, chocolate, foods laden with saturated fat etc because the obesity crisis is putting a strain on the NHS and of course, overweight teachers are not the kind of role models we want for our children.

Tell you what, let's ban living and just exist.

poinsettydog · 17/12/2008 18:03

yabu to be 'furious'.

poinsettydog · 17/12/2008 18:04

Of course it m\akes sense for smokers to sometimes teach part of the curriculum about health.

That's life. And none of the smokers would condone it.

Lotster · 17/12/2008 18:08

Well as long as we're not going over the top eh ladies...

The fact the news story was about less impressionable older children still being affected should have ... ah, never mind. There's only so much you can reason with people clearly looking for arguement, not debate.

Let's put it in reeaaally simple terms and turn it around then. Is smoking outside the school gates in front of pupils a good idea? What positive messages can it send?

quite.

FairyMum · 17/12/2008 18:16

Well Spokette, you would not expect to see a teacher outside the school gates drinking a bottle of wine or can a beer either? Surely you can differentiate between a teacher eating a biscuit in full view of the children and teacher drinking a bottle of wine or smoking a cigarette. If you cannot, then.....well....

LiffeyCanSpellGeansaiNollaig · 17/12/2008 18:17

Spokette, are you really a teacher? you seem to have great difficulty comparing like with like.

A blanket ban on alcohol is not a similar comparison to teachers smoking in front of pupils.

Maybe needing a drink the second you finished work would be an appropriate comparison? Would you champion the teachers' right to quite openly have a few swigs of whiskey from their hip flask?

LurkerOfTheUniverse · 17/12/2008 18:21

Actually, you would probably be LYNCHED if you ate a BISCUIT outside our school

Biscuits are the devil's work here

spokette · 17/12/2008 18:36

Liffey, I am not a teacher nor am I a smoker. I just think that this preposterous notion that some you have that teachers should be flawless is ludicrous. The teacher according to the OP was not on school premises. How do you know that they were not under stress and needed the cigarette to calm their nerves? The OP saw a snap shot in time and that was enough to denigrate this person for being a weakling who has the temerity to smoke in the vicinity of their work place.

Apparently, flawless parents like your good self do nothing corruptible in front of your DC and you are their most influential role model. Well, my father smoked 40 a day and I have never smoked. I had teachers who smoked and guess what, I was not corrupted.

I do not smoke but that does not make me perfect nor does it give me the right to be judgemental about those who do.

I think some of the more sanctimonious amongst you need to take a good look in the mirror because there is no such thing as the perfect being.

LiffeyCanSpellGeansaiNollaig · 17/12/2008 18:43

Are you reading what I'm typing Spokette .

I think teachers should not smoke in front of children. That is what I think. I've said that a few times.

I have said that teachers can drink, smoke, shag, swear, dress in drag, BUT NOT OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL GATES.

You are running away with your notion that I'm a perfect parent or that I'm judgemental. Don't know where you get that from. You've literally plucked it from thin air.

Sanctimony and judgment have nothing to do with this issue. It's about guidance, example, responsibilty and not just banking your salary but giving a shit.

I'm not going to debate this with you anymore, as you are attributing to me opinions I never put forward,and you are unable to compare like with like. You have absolutely no coherent argument whatsoever.

spokette · 17/12/2008 18:51

"It's about guidance, example, responsibilty and not just banking your salary but giving a shit.

So smoking means they do not give a s**t(I don't swear either).

Now that is what I call an incoherent argument.

Blandmum · 17/12/2008 18:56

Wow, and I thought that I was anti smoking

FWIW I think that hey are insane to smoke, for all sorts of very valid health reasons, but it is a free country, this insn't illegal. schools are now all non smoking, there are no smoking dens on site.

It is none of your buisnesss.

What next, checking on their sex lives and seeing if they have a G and T to wind down in the evening.

Heaven forfend

Going to the Head will make you look a bit of a zealot

thebrain · 17/12/2008 19:04

I don't care if they smoke or drink away from school. I'd be if they were swigging vodka right outside the school gates though...

Lotster · 17/12/2008 19:14

It's a bit sad how many people have now said "it's not illegal".. There are so, so many things that aren't illegal that you still don't do out of decency. I feel like an old bag wondering what society's coming to at the ripe old age of 34!!

I am certainly no saint, but if I was a teacher I'd take a bit more pride in my job...even the NUT recognises that it doesn't look good to smoke outside school gates.

Schools as workplaces should provide designated smoking areas for teachers away from pupils coming in and out. I;m sure there are lots of teachers who would prefer this themselves.

The point (which so many seem to have enjoyed missing) was never their right to smoke, but that it's more appropriate not to hang around the school gates.

Blandmum · 17/12/2008 19:22

I'd really rather if no-one smoked. There is nothing quite like watching people dying of cancer standing outside the oncology department gasping on fags to put you off forever and ever (not that I have ever smoked)

But the reality of the situation is that these people are addicted.

There is no-where to smoke in schools

They will jave next to no time to have a drag, because teachers are usually rushed off their feet at break and lunch.

I really don;t think that reporting this woman to her boss is the best way to go about changing her pattern of behaviour (if that is what is seriously wanted). It will just put her back up, and make the OP look like zealot

I've been know to eat the odd sweet while leaving school, am I next of the list for the Head, do you think>

Lotster · 17/12/2008 19:25

It would be better to ask the head to provide somewhere for smoking teachers, instead of targeting one teacher.

Blandmum · 17/12/2008 19:26

They can't. It would be illegal to do that. Schools are non smoking places under law.

Ours 'went' smoke free before it became compulsory. No loss to me, as I've never smoked, but a real problem for some.

LiffeyCanSpellGeansaiNollaig · 17/12/2008 19:32

lotster, it's depressing isn't it!?

I also think that a lot of people just aren't grasping the huge difference between teachers smoking, shagging, swearing, slugging cider, whatever , I don't care, and DOING IT OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL GATES IN FULL VIEW OF THE PUPILS.

If they were inclined to just inconvenience themselves EVER so slightly by waiting 'til they got to their car, then the pupils wouldn't see.