March 2000 • Volume 6 • Number 3
• Grassroots Advocacy •
Child's comment sparks 'no smoking at school' bill
BY JANE STOEVER
Sometimes anger breeds advocacy.
Tim Alford, M.D., of Kosciusko, Miss., was at home one night last fall, sitting in the kitchen while his wife did the dishes. His wife and son were talking.
"Matthew caught the third-grade teacher smoking behind the school today," said John Paul, a fourth-grader.
That riled up his father. "I did some soul-searching," said Alford, vice president of the Mississippi AFP.
The next morning, before seeing patients, Alford called the local school superintendent.
"We don't have a no-tobacco policy," said the superintendent. Some schools have smoking zones intended to be out of the children's sight. The teacher may have been in a smoking zone.
Alford recalled seeing football coaches smoking. "Local politics is a formidable force," he thought.
John Paul, fourth grader:
"Matthew caught the third-grade teacher smoking behind the school today"So he went up the chain of command. He called the state superintendent of education, who said he'd rather not grapple with the issue; he saw it as a local matter. "You'd do local districts a favor if you carried the battle for them," said Alford.
The state superintendent replied that if Alford could get support, the state department of education might back a statute for smoke-free schools across the state.
So Alford called the state health officer. "I've wanted to make our schools smoke-free for a long time," the officer said. Then the Mississippi Medical Association got on the bandwagon. On Feb. 2, a representative introduced the bill backed by the MAFP, MMA and the department of education.
"We've got a tobacco bill with teeth in it," said Alford. The bill would levy fines of $50, $75 and $150 for first, second and later convictions of adults for tobacco use anywhere on school property within the state.
"Our bill's prospects are good," said Alford. "In early February, the House of Representatives passed a bill to eliminate smoking in all state office buildings. The time is right."
Why did John Paul's statement kick off a legislative campaign?
"Perhaps it was the bulging otitis media I've seen in kids whose parents smoke," said Alford. "Maybe it was giving thrombolytic agents to a man with a 30-year history of smoking the night before in the ER. He's now a cardiac cripple. Anyway, I had zero tolerance for kids seeing teachers smoke."
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2000 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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