Apponequet High aims to kick the smoking habit

Apponequet Regional High School is trying to reduce the number of students smoking on school grounds, and is contemplating strategies to kick more butts out of school.
The school is also looking to better educate students who are addicted to nicotine, and are not just smoking for social reasons.
Principal Jill Proulx said smoking in school is not a new problem at Apponequet, but the school still has worked hard to curtail the number of smoking incidents.
Proulx said the administration took a proactive approach this year and even looked into developing smaller, airport-style bathrooms for easier detection. However, the school could not come up with the $30,000 needed to develop this type of bathroom.
She told school authorities and parents at a School Committee meeting last week that the school also closed down some bathrooms this year. But that method prompted parent telephone calls to the state Department of Public Health. She said it also prompted students to escape to a stairwell area and smoke there instead.
Proulx said the school has also tried to eliminate down time for smoking and have had meetings with students who are suspended for the infraction. Proulx said the school nurse also administers nicotine patches.
Superintendent John McCarthy said he soon plans on having lunch with a group of student smokers.
McCarthy told school officials last Wednesday that he interviewed a student in an advanced placement biology class about the problem, and that student told McCarthy that smoking is part of the school’s culture.
Marc Christiansen, a student representative to the School Committee, agreed with that assessment.
Christiansen said some students smoke for “social reasons” but are likely not addicted. However, he said there are still a large number of students with an addiction and these students need serious help.
“It is part of some of the culture, not the whole culture. There are social smokers and then there are addicted smokers. Some people ... use smoking as a thing they can have in common with another kid. For them, feeling not part of the school community, this is their attempt to be a part of the community,” Christiansen said.