Let my boy smoke e-cigarettes, says mum
A MOTHER yesterday demanded her 14-year-old son be given the right to smoke an electronic cigarette at school – claiming it is good for his health.
Mason Dunn began smoking ten tobacco cigarettes a day when he was 12, following the death of his father.
His mother Sue bought the device to try to wean him off the habit.
But it was confiscated by teachers at Kearsley Academy in Greater Manchester after they saw him ‘vaping’.
They said they had a duty to prevent other children from copying him.
But yesterday, Miss Dunn – who smokes 20 cigarettes a day herself – claimed the policy risked driving Mason back to even more harmful tobacco products.
‘I am not happy he smokes but we have tried everything to help him stop,’ said the 42-year-old van driver.
‘But nothing worked, so my elder son bought him an e-cigarette and it has helped him stop smoking cigarettes. If it helps to prevent people from developing cancer at a later stage, I think it should be allowed.’
Mason said: ‘It feels like the school don’t want me to stop smoking. I think it’s bang out of order they won’t let me use my e-cigarette at school.
‘I’m an addict, so I need it. I come home angry and in a state if I can’t have it and that’s not going to help me get on at school.’
Miss Dunn, a single mother who has an elder son Bradley, 21, and daughter Alyssa, ten, said she had urged Mason not to take up the habit due to a family history of addiction. ‘I always told him, “Don’t start smoking, you’ve got the addiction gene”,’ she said.
‘So I was surprised when I found out he was smoking. I wanted to give him all the help I could. Although e-cigarettes aren’t the best thing for you, it’s a lot better to be using that than having a real cigarette.’
Mason has since had the e-cigarette returned to him, although he is not allowed to take it to school.
Principal Suzanne Pountain said: ‘Kearsley is a no smoking site. We have a duty of care to our students to reinforce this. As a healthy school, we encourage students to lead healthy lifestyles and make healthy choices.’
A Department for Education spokesman said bans on e-cigarettes were a matter for individual schools.