A secondary school in Pembrokeshire has become the latest to ban people from smoking outside its school gates.
Henry Tudor School in Pembroke has made the move ahead of new laws due to come into force in March across Wales, banning smoking in all school playgrounds.
The ban on smoking outside the school gates is aimed at tackling youth smoking prevalence by de-normalising smoking and reducing children’s exposure to second hand smoke. It comes ahead of the Public Health Wales Act legislation which comes into force on March 1st and will see smoking banned in the grounds of school and hospital grounds and in children’s playgrounds across Wales.
Visitors to Henry Tudor School will now be greeted at the school gates by a banner asking them not to smoke which was designed by one of the pupils. Schools across Wales are now expected to implement Smokefree Schoolgates with help from ASH Wales which is providing them with banners, floor stickers and social media support.
The Smokefree Schoolgates campaign was originally launched by ASH Wales in 2015 and more schools are now coming on board due to the new legislation.
Deputy Headteacher Andrew Barlow explained why the school had adopted the policy:
“Our main aim is to stop parents who pick up their children from smoking in front of other pupils and to stop older pupils from smoking as they leave the school
“So far we’ve had a really positive reaction from both staff and pupils particularly those who have been involved in the design of the stop smoking banner. The school council are also happy because this was something they’d campaigned for.
“We very much hope this will result in a decline in pupils lighting up as they leave school and we feel it’s crucially important to de-normalise smoking in the eyes of young people and change parents’ attitudes towards smoking in front of children.”
Currently in Wales 8% of 15 to 16-year-olds smoke at least weekly. ASH Wales is campaigning for all schools across Wales to ban smoking at the school gates. Suzanne Cass, CEO of ASH Wales said:
“Youth smoking prevalence in Wales remains stubbornly high with thousands of children continuing to take up the habit every year, despite concerted efforts to teach them about the dangers.
“Smoking is not a lifestyle choice, it is a lifelong addiction, with devastating consequences, that all too often starts in childhood.
“We believe that one of the most effective ways to tackle this problem is reduce children’s exposure to the sight of adults smoking in everyday situations such as standing by the school gates.
“We are really pleased that Henry Tudor has joined the many schools in Wales in making the forward-thinking decision to introduce smoke-free school gates and we hope that others will follow suit.”
ASH Wales carried out a survey of pupils at Henry Tudor School to find more about their exposure to smoking.
Of those that took part, 28% said that somebody in their home smoked daily. Meanwhile among pupils that smoked themselves, 22% said they would like to quit the habit.
Research has shown that children are over 70% more likely to smoke themselves if just one of their parents smoke.
