Job Discussion Forums

lagerlout2006 · Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 985

And they are 5 years old. Shocked

Ha just joking even the Chinese aren't that extreme. But my (former thankfully) high school students ask me for smokes all the time. Is it "unprofessional" to give them a smoke. I know they are young but they get ciggies from the Chinese teachers. At least I smoke the expensive ones so they won't blow their lungs out. And have you seen the air here. ??? ,\ My hobby is to put air in jars to take home. You can literally cut it with a knife so smoking is no biggie.

They might fire me (they already have but lets stay on topic) if they knew I was giving cigarettes to children. Well 18 years old or so. On the other hand this is China so the manager would just ask me for a smoke. Wink

So my point is they will get smokes anyway so I might as well give them a decent one...Usually I leave them in my flat and say sorry I don't have any...Any thoughts? (I'm glad I will teach adults next.) And don't flame me about the dangers of smoking. My great grandmother died at 101 and my grandmother at 92..And my mother still yells at me. Shocked

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

Just Say No.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

What Chinese students are allowed, and what they are NOT allowed to do, is baffling at times, I agree! For instance, I have seen kids younger than ten years being treated to a swig from a bottle of some liquid drug.
Maybe CHinese parents and educationists erroneously treat kids as "equals". There is plenty of evidence. We know of the "little emperor" syndrome. Kids on board buses don't stand up for an adult person.

But offering ciggies is completely new to me. ANd, if their Chinese teachers do that I would consider that school an extremely bad one. Should I refrain from going with the flow? Sure! No questions asked! I am from the civilised world where youngsters are not allowed to do this. NOr are parents allowed to offer ciggies to their kids!

anthyp · Joined: 16 Apr 2004 Posts: 1320 Location: Chicago, IL USA

You know, when I eat with my (college) students, I'll offer them cigarettes if I'm smoking, because I know that's what you do in China.

I never really thought about it like, "Hey, I'm giving cigarettes to kids." It was just one of those, "When in Rome ..." kind of things for me. Besides, they're not really kids - most of them are about 20. To their credit, most of my students don't seem to smoke.

And they always laugh when I tell them how, in America, you have to be 21 to buy (and drink) beer!

lagerlout2006 · Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 985

It gets worse. Someone opened a little shop on campus and the owner will sell Baiju to the high school students. If you are not in China baiju is basically moonshine but not as good a quality. I was a bad boy in high school but this is ridiculous...I'm just a pushover I guess...I know it's wrong to give a smoke to a kid in high school but...Ahhh I'm sounding like a ciga-nazi now. My aunt smoked for 75 years before it caught up with her. Maybe she would have lived to 91 if she didn't smoke. Spare me man.

Kurochan · Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 944 Location: China

Technically, it's illegal to sell cigarettes to secondary school students, so I wouldn't do it if I were you, even if other teachers do. As soon as somebody has a grudge against you, they'll bring it up and it'll be used against you. Of course, the double standard will apply.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

I had some Senior 3 students over for a movie one night and one of their Chinese teachers came along as well. He brought with him several bottles of beer. I don't drink (nor smoke - aren't I just the goodie, goodie) but the students also turned down the beer. The teacher would have none of that however and actually pressured them into accepting a glass of beer. So, they all obligingly toasted and drank it down. Then the teacher proceeded to finish the rest (quite a large quantity - he was very drunk!).