Concerned about students who smoke off-campus and leave cigarette butts and other trash behind, one high school principal came up with a simple solution. Let the students smoke in a designated area on campus. A story about the principal's proposal made the front page of the student newspaper. The verbatim text follows.
Board to Act On Smoking After Survey of Problem
The Board of Education will vote on the proposition that would allow students to smoke on school property at the December Board meeting. Their final decision will be based on student, teacher and parent questionnaires.
Parents will be asked if they feel smoking on the designated area of the school property, the area by the cannons, should be allowed and also if their child in school does smoke. The teachers' questionnaire will be similar but will include a question asking what percentage of the students they feel do smoke. The students will be asked if they are regular smokers, an occasional smoker or a non-smoker. They will also be asked their feelings about smoking on campus.
Students have always stood across the street and smoked. This year, however, the police requested that the "point" be used by the students to smoke and congregate.
The police have received numerous complaints from the citizens. Each morning about 200 students congregate on their property leaving behind cigarette butts, soda cans, paper, and other trash.
At the November board meeting, Mr. Evergetis [the principal] stated, "From 75 per cent to 90 per cent of the students smoke." The estimate was based on my observations of smokers at school dances. Anyone who lights a cigarette and smokes it, whether it's only one a month or more –we consider him a smoker," stated Mr. Evergetis.
From the Buccaneer, Red Bank High School (N.J.) November 27, 1968.
Now I don't know about you, but I thought the principal missed an opportunity to teach students that littering is antisocial behavior and that drinking sodas--especially in the morning--is not a habit to get into.
