The Washington times., 1902-06-10
CIGARETTE HABIT TN
THE public SCHOOLS
Efforts of Officials to Exter-
inmate Evil.
BOYS CONTINUE TO SMOKE
From Time to Time Stringent Rules
Are Made and Enforced, But They
Appear to Be OF Little Aaail-"Boys
viii Be Boys"

The cigarette habit in the public
schools CT Washington. has az ali times
been more or less the source of ccrtcn.
lon on the part Of many persons. Upor
All occasions the habit has been most
strongly denounced Every little while
new war is waGcd against it and al
manner of rules sre established TO ex-
terminate it. Nevertheless. The evil cor
tiAucs. And to all appearances it will
continue as long as boys attend the pub
lie schools.
In spite Of everything tina. has been
done to destroy the use of the cigarette
by the public school pupils. it remains,
a verltable thorn in the flesh of the
school authorities. And year by year it
ncticeably increases. until now even the
ittlest pupils, the boys from the frs;
and second srades-and in some cases
The kindergartens-are addicted to the
cigarette smoking habit The teachers
and principals of the schools are utterly
powerless to prevent the growth or con-
| tinuance of the habit.
! Statistics and talks with the heads OF
| the schools tend to show beyond all pos
s'bility OF dispute that the boys who are
| addicted to the cigarette habit to any
extent are in almost every case the
weakest and most delinquent scholars
In the older pupils, OF course. there is
I h..
/ OF cigarettes; but in the cases of the
youngsters, the lads just entering their
| teens. the harm is there and is all too
noticeable.
Effect of the Evil.
/ The evil seems to affect them to the
extent of numbing their faculties and
robbing them of ambition TO push for
ward in their studies. The cigarette
| fiends" are nearly always the listless
| boys, the pupils who are willing to get
/ along in any sort of slipshod fashion
that does not call for any great expendi-
ture OF effort.
! Every day in the week youngsters are
I to be seen on the streets. in the parks,
in fact. everywhere, putting at cigar
| cite. In a vast number of cases these
| children are not over seven years, If
/ some Of them are more than six. II
is not only the street urchns to whom
this applies. but the sons of cultured
and wellto-do famiiies-often families
of wealth and social position. Each
year, il seems, the age at which boys
begin the cigarette habit drops one or
two notches.
This evil has continually been pointed
out as the bcsett:ng sin of the pupils
OF the public schools. Indeed there is
a more or less apparent disposition en-
the part of many people to regard the
cigarette habit as disease which takes
root and develops with peculiar avidity
among schoolboys. So in certain
sense the public schools and this So
called lack of influence over the pupils
is held responsible for the remarkable
spread of the use Of cigarettes.
No Check Effective.
But. when viewed from the stand
point of school teacher or principal.
the vice assumes the aspect of an in
furious and steadily spreading evil.
against the course OF which no checks
cry conceivable plan for roofing out
the vice and preventing its pagation
has been tried. The harshest measures
in the power of the Board OF Education
to adopt have been put into force. Prin-
cipals and teachers have made and are
constantly making personal efforts to
drive the use OF the cigarette out of
the schools. All these efforts, however,
have resulted in total failure. AT the
present time one of the most strongly
enforced regulations OF the school board
is one which prohibits smoking by the
pupils in or near the school buildings or
on their way to and from school Pu-
pills found violating this rule are invari-
ably severely dealt with. The sharpest
lockout is maintained by the teachers
themselves for boys who are smoking
near the schools. Yet every day in the
week the rules are being violated 10y
scores Of boys from each institution with
the utmost ease and unconcern. The
moment tho boys in the high schools are
Dismissed for the noon recess the
''smc - rush" is inaugurateG. Dozens OF
boys scanper away in groups as fast |
as their legs will carry them. and go OF I
a short distance from the school. They .
seldom or never go far away, usually /
around some corner where they are no. /
visible from the windows OF the school, |
and where they can keep effective watch .
in all directions.
Il teacher is seen approaching. the
yCung men Immediately move on
around another corner, or else hide
their cigarettes until the coast is clear
again And out of the scores OF pupils
who follow this practice few are ever
caught IN the act. As soon as one
smoking ground" becomes known to the
school authorities the boys move on to
mother. and so foil the ncdagoSues in
I'll attempts to mete out punishment
or the oftense.
An Initiative Habit.
The cigarette-smoking habit seems to
e largely an initiative one on the part
If the pupils. The smaller and younger
,cys sec the older pupils CT the higher
lasses engage in the practice and form
he impression that in order for them to
e men and rise TO higher classes they
aust indulge in cigarette smoking. .
At times the cry is raised Why are
he pupils not Ia -v.,ct the evils of sinok-
ng along with thei rother work? And t
/ the same time the school authorities
rc spoken of disp1raGinSiy for not ex- ;