Let my boy smoke his e-cigarette at school, 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 just 12 following the death of his father.
When his mother Sue found out she bought him 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’ on the school premises.
They said they had a duty to prevent other children from copying him.
Yesterday, however, 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 in the first place, but we have tried everything to help him stop,’ said the 42-year-old van driver.
‘We have tried patches and have been to the doctor, but nothing worked, so my elder son bought him an e-cigarette and it has helped him stop smoking cigarettes. He has really made an effort. If it helps to prevent people from developing cancer at a later stage, I think it should be allowed.’
Until a ban on sales to under18s comes into force next month, e-cigarettes can be openly sold to children. This has led to fears that they will be tempted by the products’ sweet flavours before ‘graduating’ to tobacco.
Mason began smoking in Year 7, but says he gave up over the summer holidays after his mother gave him the e-cigarette. However since returning to school, he has been lured back to smoking normal cigarettes.
‘It feels like the school don’t want me to stop smoking,’ he said. ‘I think it’s bang out of order that they won’t let me use my e-cigarette at school.
‘My vaping isn’t harming anyone but 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
‘I’m an addict and I need it’
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 her habit due to a family history of addiction.
‘I always told him “Don’t start smoking because you’ve got the addiction gene”, she said.
‘So I was surprised when I found out he was smoking. I asked him what on earth he was doing. That’s why I wanted to give him all the help I could, and although e-cigarettes aren’t the best thing for you, it’s a lot better to be using that than having a real cigarette.’
Staff at the academy, which is rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, said Mason has been referred to the school nurse for help. He has since had the e- cigarette returned to him, although he is not allowed to take it to school.
Principal Suzanne Pountain said: ‘Kearsley Academy is a no smoking site. We have a duty of care to our students to reinforce this and discourage them from doing so. As a healthy school we encourage students to lead healthy lifestyles and to make healthy choices.’
Sales of e- cigarettes have boomed in recent years. The battery-powered devices are aimed at smokers who want to get their nicotine fix without inhaling harmful chemicals such as tar and carbon monoxide.
They resemble pens or cigarettes and contain a liquid form of nicotine that gives users the same rush as smoking.
However even their manufacturers acknowledge that longterm nicotine use may be harmful and say they should not be used by children.
A Department for Education spokesman said bans on products such as e-cigarettes were a matter for individual schools.