A majority of schools have set policies that bar students from smoking tobacco and the learning institutions' managers have presented various arguments concerning their decision. However, some people have castigated the administrators who abhor smoking tobacco within the schools hence the need to properly examine the issue of making colleges free of the drug above. It is necessary to make all school campus tobacco-free to help improve students' health, eradicate improper peer influence, and elevate academic performance among the students; however, the argument that allowing learners to smoke on colleges helps in mitigating drop out and absenteeism is inappropriate because individuals can manage their urge to use tobacco and engage in the practice when they are not within the learning institution.
The decision to make all school campus tobacco-free is appropriate because the strategy will help in elevating students' academic performance. According to Mekonen et al. (1), tobacco smoking is distractive and reduces learners' ability to concentrate on their studies thus experience a considerable decline in performance of classroom activities that teachers assign them. For instance, learners who are addicted to cigarettes will require some time to smoke thereby interfere with their ability to be attentive in classrooms and acquire teachers' concepts. Furthermore, authorization of smoking in all school campus will be detrimental to learners' academic progress because the practice (smoking) considerably alienates individuals from associating with the people they think will not accept their lifestyle (Mekonen et al. 1). Notably, learners will shy from consulting their teachers because they will develop a conviction that some teachers will not acknowledge their smoking habit. Consequently, addicted learners will receive poor grades as they will not have adequate contact hours with their teachers. As a way of ensuring outstanding academic performance, it is prudent not to make school campus tobacco-free.
As a way of improving the health statuses of learners, it is necessary to ban tobacco smoking on all school campuses. Studies have indicated that tobacco has health hazards such as lung cancer, emphysema, acute bronchitis and asthma which can lead to death among the addicts (CDC 1). Consequently, prevalence of infections above will increase when schools allow learners to smoke thus make society experience an increase in rates of mortality among college students. Therefore, it is prudent that schools aid in the improvement of welfare of learners by establishing policies that bar the latter from engaging in the hazardous practice. Also, passive smoking of tobacco has adverse effects on health and often leads to demise or development of respiratory complications (CDC 1). Learners who resort to smoking within the school compounds will contribute to the passage of adverse effects of tobacco to their colleagues. Indeed, tobacco has adverse effects on health hence the need to curb widespread infection among learners and create conducive environment for learning requires that college administrators ban tobacco smoking.
The strategy of making all school campus tobacco-free is also appropriate because it helps to ensure addicted learners do not influence their colleagues into the use of tobacco. In colleges, a majority of learners are still in their adolescent stages and hence susceptible to pressure from their peers who will make them engage in practices which are inappropriate (Jamshed, Khan and Latif 116). For instance, the adolescent learners who observe their schoolmates smoke are likely to emulate the practice without considering the negative effects that it will have on their health and academic performance. Moreover, making schools tobacco-free will be an essential strategy for eradicating discriminations which can develop due to animosity between addicts and nonsmokers. Specifically, ensuring that no student smokes within the school grounds will help in creating uniformity among the students thus enhance their ability to interact with one another without any biases regarding their statuses concerning drug abuse.
Some individuals opine that allowing students to smoke in all campus aids in ensuring learners' consistency in classes and eradicates instances where they quit colleges; however, the argument is inappropriate because students can control their urge to smoke and hence engage in the practice somewhere else apart from the school compounds. For instance, individuals argue that a majority of learners who smoke resort to quitting colleges because they do not get adequate opportunities to undertake their activities or experience discrimination from their colleagues. Therefore, it is prudent that school administrators allow learners to smoke on campus to keep them in colleges. Although allowing drugs can aid in reducing absenteeism and school dropout, studies show that addicts can effectively manage their appetite for tobacco and ensure that they smoke when they are not within the campus' compound (Baumeister 1). Besides, the use of tobacco can significantly interfere with colleges' normal routines because learners will require some time to smoke thus inconvenience educational or extracurricular programs.
In conclusion, it is necessary to make all school campus tobacco-free to help improve students' health, eradicate improper peer influence, and improve academic performance among the students; however, the argument that allowing learners to smoke on colleges helps in mitigating drop out and absenteeism is inappropriate because individuals can manage their urge to use tobacco and engage in the practice when they are not within the learning institution. Therefore, banning of tobacco in all campuses is an important strategy that every learning institution should implement.
Works cited
Baumeister, Roy F. "Addiction, cigarette smoking, and voluntary control of action: Do cigarette smokers lose their free will?" Addictive behaviors reports 5 (2017). <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352853217300056>
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC. “Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking”, 2017. Web. 2018 Dec. 6. <https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smo king/index.htm>
Jamshed, Junaid, Muhammad Mushtaq Khan, and Zahid Latif. "Cigarette Smoking Habits among University Students: Prevalence and Associated Factors." International Journal of Public Health Science (IJPHS) 6.2 (2017): 112-117.
Mekonen, Tesfa, et al. "Substance use as a strong predictor of poor academic achievement among university students." Psychiatry journal 2017 (2017). Web. 2018 Dec. 6 <https://www.hindawi.com/journals/psychiatry/2017/7517450/>
