When we “assume” we make an “ass” out of “u” and “me”.
Teen Suspended for Smoke Smell
Salem High School has a very strict no-smoking policy. It’s so strict that merely smelling like smoke has 17 year-old Amanda Bates serving 5 days of suspension.
�She was not caught smoking, she was accused of smelling like smoke and put on five days� suspension for that reason,� [Amanda’s father Carlton] added.
Salem�s principal Robert Cresswell stood by the school�s policy.
�Basically the girl smelled very strongly of smoke and we handled it as consistently and fair [sic] as we normally handle things,� he said.
Cresswell said the rules were no smoking or possession of smoking paraphernalia on campus. Smelling like smoke is not a violation but �we assume if you smell strongly of smoke, you�ve been smoking,� he said.
We should also assume that if you fail the most basic logic test that you will not be able to run a school successfully. Driving into school with a smoker, simply talking with somebody while they are smoking, going to the bathroom that is full of smokers…it is very easy for a non-smoker to smell like smoke.
Cresswell’s assumptions may be consistent but they are most certainly not fair.
(Tip credit to Mary Cahill and Stephen)
Too depressing to contemplate
Although the suspension is unjust - and at five days, draconian - sitting in the miasma of a smoker, or of someone who lives or associates with heavy smokers, is an unjust punishment of its own. Libraries and restaurants refuse service to those whose personal odors are unpleasant and distracting for other patrons. Why shouldn’t schools?
By curtailing distraction, dress codes and restrictions on various contraband (mobile phones, water pistols, et al) already serve the greatest good for the greatest number. Going forward, Salem High School should require that students report to school “in good hygiene” and “free of overpowering odors, including smoke.”
Meanwhile, Principal Cresswell or his surrogates have failed to use common sense by imposing such a harsh sanction on a student whose guilt was unproven. They now exacerbate their embarrassment by refusing to admit error. Salem could more constructively have permitted the student to shower and put on fresh clothes before returning to class.
Some students live in homes with smokers. As a result everything they own smells like smoke. It doesn’t matter how good your hygiene is — you will smell of cigarette smoke because it is in your clothers, your backpack, your books, and everything else.
Unless you want to a) ban smoking in any home where there is a child; b) strip smoking parents of custody; or c) deny the children of smokers an education.
PrecintChair, please don’t give the smoking nazis anymore ideas.
Everett, surely you don’t agree with such draconian rules. I think students have the right to dress as they please, smoke and use cell phones if they want, whenever they please.
Dismissing smokers’ children who reek of cigarette smoke would bring much deserved shame to their parents and offer a stronger motivation to quit. This gives parents who smoke much to think about. If they insist on continuing to smoke, let them do it outside, or with smokeless ashtrays.
Should we ban smoking in homes where children are present? Even if we could, doing so would be difficult. Should we strip smoking parents of custody? If their smoking demonstrably harms the health of the child, absolutely. Should we deny children of smokers an education? If this means expulsion, of course not.
However, schools can and should intervene if these children come to school smelling like ashbins. Doing so would serve both the health and education of smokers’ children, their classmates, and probably a number of smoking parents as well.
My first car was a hand-me-down from a cousin who smoked in the car. It took several months of driving with the windows open before I could no longer smell the cigarettes. I’m sure there were days when I smelled, at least a little, like cigarette smoke.
Should we ban adults from smoking in the privacy of their own car? (I know smokers who won’t smoke in their cars because it’s too much even for them.) Should minors be prohibited from buying a car from a smoker? How far do you go?
I’m all for cutting back on second-hand smoke, but to suspend someone for 5 days (or even an afternoon, for that matter) for smelling like a cigarette is way beyond reasonable.
What’s next? “You have a black eye, so we’re suspending you for fighting”? “You have an alligator clip in your pocket, so we’re suspending you for smoking marijuana”? “You have a 100-dollar bill in your wallet, so we’re expelling you for dealing drugs”?
I don’t believe we’re talking at cross purposes here, as we’re not talking about smelling “a little bit like cigarettes” or like “a cigarette” here. Nor do I advocate a five-day suspension, as you’ll note in my first post in this thread. A quick Google search on “children of smokers” will give you some idea where I’m coming from.
It’s not a matter of what should be legislated; rather, it’s a matter of what should be politely but firmly discouraged. Between the ages of 6 and 15, I spent the majority of my time with my father, a non-smoker, and alternate weekends and part of the summer with my mother (along with my stepfather later). Both my mother and stepfather used to smoke a great deal.
After spending four weeks with my mother in August (during the smoking years), I’d return to my father’s house inured and desensitized to how badly my belongings smelled after their stay. It took a fresh environment for me to notice just how awful our “clean” clothes smelled.
In addition, smokers and their non-smoking advocates are often oblivious - or worse, cavalier - about the health effects of second-hand smoke and the social effects of smoking itself.
I recall a friend of my mother’s who learned my wife was pregnant, yet felt free to puff away right in our faces. I can think of at least six people in my own family who have required medical attention due to their smoking habits. In every case, the need for hospitalization and management of the self-inflicted problems created financial and emotional hardships on the families.
Again, in my first post, I merely suggested that Salem High School could have granted - not insisted upon - an opportunity for the student to freshen up. Such a minor shame serves more often as corrective than as lasting injury.
If a student came into school mottled with cow manure, there’s no doubt something would be done about it, and without the hot flashes that come with questioning smokers’ supposed rights. Emotions notwithstanding, reductio ad absurdum “what’s next?” scenarios (such as “you have a black eye, so we’re expelling you for fighting”) are about as effective as asking such questions as “What’s next? Indictment on charges of treason? Compulsory gender reassignment? Summary execution?”
As most people realize, schools are places to learn, not to suffer smokers’ “rights,” not to, as Shadowhawk suggests, “smoke and use cell phones…, whenever [students] please,” not to endure whatever manner of sartorial expression one pleases, in short, not to detract from others’ right to learn. Salem High School, I suspect, espouses this view. It’s too bad Principal Cressler and company so bungled the opportunity to champion it.
An ever more ridiculous America slides further down the toilet.
When was the Constitution amended to deny due process to students? When were students exempted from the protections of the Bill of Rights? Where is the ACLU?
A five-day suspension could really hurt a student’s academic career, especially if she want to get into a good college. Isn’t it amazing that some government lackey is allowed to make a decision that could ruin a kid’s life forever? It’s beyond me why parents and students put up with this crap. TOO MANY STUPID PEOPLE HAVE TOO MUCH POWER TO DESTROY YOUR KID’S LIFE. Flee schools with idiotic administrators and asinine zero tolerance policies for your child’s sake.
And “educators” wonder why homeschooling is growing by leaps and bounds?
Jim, are you sure the tobacco industry isn’t planting subliminal messages here? Salem High? And the dad, Carlton?
A great quote from the administration: “We handled it as consistently and fair [sic] as we normally handle things.” Yeeks.
A related story said that students suspended for smoking can also lose their drivers license under Rockdale County guidelines.
Everett -
“Libraries and restaurants refuse service to those whose personal odors are unpleasant and distracting for other patrons. Why shouldn’t schools?”
I have never seen THIS happen. I’m glad I live in an area where public venues are not free to routinely discriminate against their patrons.
And this wasn’t a case of her smelling like smoke so strongly other students complained:
“The administrator there “grabbed her shirt, smelled it, started smelling her hair and said, ‘You’ve been smoking,’ and my daughter replied, ‘I haven’t been smoking, I don’t smoke,’” Bates said.”
The administrator got up in her face and took a great big whiff, invading her personal space to do it.
If there was a rule that says no smoking on the school property, and she was caught smoking, then she should be punished. But there is no proof that this girl was smoking. Even if she had smoked at home, it is not the business of the school.
The administrator should learn that there is a limit on how far people can impose their morals on others.
Perhaps she was wearing a Tar and Nicotine perfume.
Salem�s principal Robert Cresswell said smelling like smoke is not a violation, but �we assume if you smell strongly of smoke, you�ve been smoking.” How about we assume that a principal who says “Basically the girl smelled very strongly of smoke and we handled it as consistently and fair [sic] as we normally handle things” is as ignorant as he sounds, and we should not expose our children to educators who don’t use proper grammer when they speak.
Someone said on another site that if we assume Creswell has a penis, do we assume he’s a rapist?
That makes just as much sense.
Personally, I think smoker’s children should be treated as any other victim of abuse. What could be more abusive than forcing a child to inhale noxious and poisonous fumes whenever they are home?
I have seen students come in smelling so strongly of smoke that it causes other students and faculty members to have asthma — a potentially lethal response. You don’t smell THAT strongly from just being around a smoker in the car or for a few minutes in the bathroom.
I grew up with two smokers. As soon as my clothes were washed, they were put in my room. No one ever said that my clothes smelled like smoke. My nieces and nephews live with my sister and brother-in-law who smoke and they don’t smell like smoke. I bought a car from a smoker and it did stink for some time, but I never showed up at work smelling of smoke from that car.
To reek of smoke takes more than just standing in a little smoke for a few minutes.
Do I think five days of suspension is right for this girl? No — it’s overkill. But if she’s smelling that strongly of smoke, it’s coming from somewhere and what’s more, it’s endangering the very life any student in her presence who suffers from respiratory disease.
Incidentally — not all parents know that their children smoke. Just because the girl’s parents are certain that she doesn’t smoke it doesn’t mean they’re right. There are plenty of parents out there who are shocked to find out that their “perfect” children are smoking, drinking, using drugs and having sex when the kids are arrested in possession or turn up pregnant.
*I get it now*
I’m going to take a page from ucblockhead and stop talking about US politics. After thinking things through I have made the final step, and I get it now. That’s right, I GET IT NOW. Don’t worry.
I, for one, welcome ou…