The lure of the cigarette...

Was doing my work in the staff room when I noticed one of my colleagues talking to a boy...Ri. Ri is 13 years old. He is in one of my classes. I label him a wanderer cos you can be in mid-sentence of something, and he will just stand up and walk around the class....in the midst of a lesson! Sometimes I think he's a little cuckoo. Either that or he just does not have the basic manners! There are 2 more like him in class..Iz and Mi. They are quite incorrigible. Anyway, I walked over to them since he is one of my charges. The problem: he was caught smoking. And there was no denying cos he reeked of cigarette smoke.

Well, this little tyke has told me before that he is a 1-pack-a-day guy during one of our classes. My conversation with them was a discovery of sorts for me. This is my first year dealing with kids this age. Prior to this, I only had direct contact with those above 15 and by then they are usually not so chatty about their lives. The 13-year-olds are different. They are more eager to talk. Anyway, this is their story. Many of them have their first contact with cigarette at a very young age, some as young as Std 1. By the time they are in Std 5, they are your regular smoker and some of them claim they get headaches when they don't smoke.

So, how and why? First...because of friends. Peer pressure. Yup! That works every time. Without fail!! Other reasons. Cos their fathers smoke! It's a father and son thingy! Quite a number say their parents don't mind. In fact, another boy in my F5 class even said that his father smokes with him. Father-son bonding. So, why should we bug them? Some say, they just wanted to try....maybe subtle influence of the media here? And it makes them feel good, they say even though all of them agree they actually didn't like the first experience. It made them cough and there was this bitter taste. But they went back to it!

Types of smoke? Your regular Malboro, kretek and rokok daun, in that order. The last one because is it the cheapest. And to support their habit some of them have started working. So, their ability to concentrate in class is somewhat compromised. Ri? Well he said he picks rubber scraps to sell. His mom is a rubber tapper. His dad?? Put it this way, he's under rehabilitation now...forced institutionalization.

We explain to them the dangers. They know of older people who suffer from smoking related respiratory problems. They know of COAD, though not the term, yet they continue smoking. There are a few who say they are trying to quit but their friends say they are 'bluffing' cos they have seen them smoking still.

School canes them if they are caught with the cigs. But then again, students point out that the teachers also smoke! If the big boss also smokes and the students see him (even if it is outside the school), then I guess the credibility goes out of the window too!

Anyway, it is common to see students puffing away outside the school gates, be it early in the morning or right after school. The number is not few. Cigarettes company will be raking in huge profits still, for many years to come. Their customer base is already there!