Schoolboy with '10-a-day habit' has e-cigarette confiscated by teachers

One eyed Jack

There aren't too many stories stop me in my tracks and make me think "WTF is this shyte?", and there are even less I feel worth sharing, but this one genuinely has me stumped, on so many levels!

What sort of an idiot buys their child an ecigarette in the first place, and then said idiot complains that the school has a policy that prohibits smoking and 'intervened without her consent'... :pac:

According to reports, Mason Dunne's mother bought him the e-cigarette.

She said hopes that her son will kick the smoking habit soon but is angry that teachers intervened without her consent. "We have tried patches and have been to the doctor, but nothing worked, so my eldest son bought him an e-cigarette and it has helped him stop smoking cigarettes," she told Metro.co.uk.

"He has really made an effort. "I went into school and explained the situation but was told it is against the school policy. He came home from school in a terrible state because he needed nicotine. "I am not happy about the fact he smokes in the first place, but we have tried everything to help him stop. ‘"If it helps to prevent people from developing cancer at a later stage, I think it should be allowed," she added. Mason is believed to have taken up smoking, without her realising, when his father died.

Suzanne Pountain, the Greater Manchester school’s headmistress, 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. ‘We offer students access to the school nurse and if necessary pathways such as the smoke cessation programme, if this is needed. ‘We will continue to work with and support Mason within the guidelines of our policy. ‘For the safeguarding of all our students, smoking, including the use of any nicotine inhalation devices are not allowed.’

Source: Independent.ie


I'm surprised there's even such a thing as a 'smoking cessation programme' in the school, and there's no way this child should be accomodated because he wants to smoke his ecigarette, much worse that his mother bought it for him in the first place!

ElChe32

The mother needs a kick in the gowl for naming her kid Mason.

kneemos

The mother didn't buy it and is obviously trying to help her son.

Trond

One eyed Jack wrote: »

There aren't too many stories stop me in my tracks and make me think "WTF is this shyte?", and there are even less I feel worth sharing, but this one genuinely has me stumped, on so many levels!

What sort of an idiot buys their child an ecigarette in the first place, and then said idiot complains that the school has a policy that prohibits smoking and 'intervened without her consent'... :pac:





Source: Independent.ie


I'm surprised there's even such a thing as a 'smoking cessation programme' in the school, and there's no way this child should be accomodated because he wants to smoke his ecigarette, much worse that his mother bought it for him in the first place!

I don't think she's an idiot for buying him an e cig. If it does stop the kid from smoking actual cigarettes its obviously a positive thing.

SEPT 23 1989

whats the problem here exactly?

fergiesfolly

Saw that story on the web yesterday.
Mother and son were two of the most god -awful ugly yokes I've ever seen.
Let him smoke.
If nothin else, the smoke from the fags will help hide his mug.

kneemos

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

whats the problem here exactly?

Not sure.Sounds like there must be something.

MrStuffins

ElChe32 wrote: »

The mother needs a kick in the gowl for naming her kid Mason.

With a name like that he's bound to get stoned now and again.

Birneybau

The brother bought the e-cig for him, it says it right there in the article.

The Backwards Man

Meh, he's 14.

In my day we'd have tried lent three times and swore to give them up after the budget at least once by the time we were that age.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

One eyed Jack wrote: »

What sort of an idiot...

Hang on a minute. When asked what clues make you think that somebody is as sharp as a marble, didn't you say:

One eyed Jack wrote: »

Someone who sees themselves as being more intelligent, or having more common sense, than anyone else.

And anyway, I don't see anything idiotic about buying a e-cig for someone who's trying to give up smoking. There's no age restrictions on them yet afaik.

Medusa22

Edit - just re-read the OP and realised that the boy is 14 and not ten, so apologies.

One eyed Jack

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy wrote: »

Hang on a minute. When asked what clues make you think that somebody is as sharp as a marble, didn't you say:

I never claimed I wasn't an idiot though, but even then I wouldn't be the idiot that allows my child to smoke in the first place.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy wrote: »

And anyway, I don't see anything idiotic about buying a e-cig for someone who's trying to give up smoking. There's no age restrictions on them yet afaik.

You missed the point of the article then. The child wants to smoke the ecigarette in school, which goes against school policy, and the mother is complaining because -

One eyed Jack wrote: »

the school has a policy that prohibits smoking and 'intervened without her consent'... :pac:

jamesbere

If I was caught smoking at that age I would of got some clatter across the head from my parents.

RedemptionZ

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Saw that story on the web yesterday.
Mother and son were two of the most god -awful ugly yokes I've ever seen.
Let him smoke.
If nothin else, the smoke from the fags will help hide his mug.

Lovely.

I think he should be allowed smoke the e-cig outdoors during school breaks. As far as I know it doesn't do any harm to people around you does it?

Nodin

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Meh, he's 14.

In my day we'd have tried lent three times and swore to give them up after the budget at least once by the time we were that age.

Twas the way of it. The nicotine stain was a dead giveaway so denial became impossible after a while.

asherbassad

Medusa22 wrote: »

Well, I can't believe he started smoking at the age of ten and I'd certainly be questioning the mother's parenting skills. However, to be fair to her she didn't buy the e-cigarette herself and she does seem to be trying to help him quit smoking. That being said though, I'm also surprised that there is a smoking cessation programme in the school, surely he is still in primary school, no? How many primary school children need assistance with giving up smoking? I suppose it is a good thing all the same, and there must be some demand for it if it is in place.

The mother really has no right to be livid because the school has a policy of not allowing children to use any kind of inhaled smoking device, fecksake :pac:

He'll just have to go cold turkey or maybe they should try the patches again :P

A parent can only do so much and certainly can't be blamed for every little transgression of which a child is guilty. You can be the best parent in the world offering advice, love, encouragement, boundaries, etc. but if the child runs with a bad crowd who have a negative influence, engage in petty crime, vandalism, smoking, drinking, stupid dares to impress the girls of the group and so on then there's going to be problems.
On the flip-side, you can be a crappy parent, somewhat negligent, lazy, quick to temper, but if the kid has a good gang of mates who are respectful, mannerly, play sports together, share hobbies, look out for one another and their younger siblings then he'll be just fine.

I've witnessed the outcomes of both scenaria.

SEPT 23 1989

I would say The Backwards Man smoked Major

starling

Medusa22 wrote: »

Well, I can't believe he started smoking at the age of ten and I'd certainly be questioning the mother's parenting skills. However, to be fair to her she didn't buy the e-cigarette herself and she does seem to be trying to help him quit smoking.

Wait, where did you get that from, it doesn't say in the article what age he was when he started smoking

Medusa22 wrote: »

That being said though, I'm also surprised that there is a smoking cessation programme in the school, surely he is still in primary school, no? How many primary school children need assistance with giving up smoking? I suppose it is a good thing all the same, and there must be some demand for it if it is in place.

The mother really has no right to be livid because the school has a policy of not allowing children to use any kind of inhaled smoking device, fecksake :pac:

He'll just have to go cold turkey or maybe they should try the patches again :P

Primary school? He's 14. I hear terrible things about the UK education standards but I'm pretty sure it's not THAT bad.

starling

asherbassad wrote: »

A parent can only do so much and certainly can't be blamed for every little transgression of which a child is guilty. You can be the best parent in the world offering advice, love, encouragement, boundaries, etc. but if the child runs with a bad crowd who have a negative influence, engage in petty crime, vandalism, smoking, drinking, stupid dares to impress the girls of the group and so on then there's going to be problems.
On the flip-side, you can be a crappy parent, somewhat negligent, lazy, quick to temper, but if the kid has a good gang of mates who are respectful, mannerly, play sports together, share hobbies, look out for one another and their younger siblings then he'll be just fine.

I've witnessed the outcomes of both scenaria.

Yeah, some kids are just going to try smoking, it's not really fair to decide they must have sh1tty parents. Especially when one parent dies while the kids are still so young.

Although as far as the actual e-cig issue, I think she's wrong to be complaining about the school. For his own sake, this kid should be using an ecig because it's better than him smoking fags, but that doesn't mean the school should be condoning it. If he managed to hide the real fags from his ma surely he can hide an ecig from his teachers. It's not like he has to worry about the smell and smoke.

Samaris

TL:DR of the very short article, on the points that people are already getting wrong for the sake of the story.

FIrstly, it contradicts itself, the first line is that the mother is believed to have gotten it for him, her own statement is that the lad's elder brother got it for him.

And secondly, while there's slating of their parenting and the rest of it - the kid seems to have taken up smoking secretly after his father died. A period where most families would be in a bit of turmoil, including the wife that's been gleefully bludgeoned.

I absolutely don't agree that ecigs should be condoned in schools. Kids will smoke. Kids will get caught smoking. Kids will get it in the neck from all concerned and this is the natural way of things! It shouldn't be accepted, it shouldn't have allowances made for it. Ecigs may not be illegal, but they are inappropriate for a 14yr old to have in school

But, I see the mother as worried and upset and trying to do her best, even if she shouldn't have raised a fuss over this.

Also, her looks or he looks of the son have absolutely nothing to do with anything, and it's a remarkably ignorant comment to make.

starling

RedemptionZ wrote: »

Lovely.

I think he should be allowed smoke the e-cig outdoors during school breaks. As far as I know it doesn't do any harm to people around you does it?

It doesn't, but some people worry that using ecigs might encourage non-smoking children to try them. A big part of that IMHO is bullsh1t media scare stories, but children are idiots in fairness.

PARlance

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

I would say The Backwards Man smoked Major

Not sure he would be a filter man myself.
I have him down for Sweet Afton

Brian from Bray

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

I would say The Backwards Man smoked Major

PARlance wrote: »

Not sure he would be a filter man myself.
I have him down for Sweet Afton

I reckon Backwards man smokes turf.

Sam Kade

RedemptionZ wrote: »

Lovely.

I think he should be allowed smoke the e-cig outdoors during school breaks. As far as I know it doesn't do any harm to people around you does it?

Did you hear about the man in the U.S. Last week, he got his face destroyed from an exploding e cig it blew a hole in the roof of his mouth. As for letting him smoke it on the playground, what will they want to be left do then? You have to draw the line somewhere;)

starling

Sam Kade wrote: »

Did you hear about the man in the U.S. Last week, he got his face destroyed from an exploding e cig it blew a hole in the roof of his mouth.

No. Got a link or something?

The_Valeyard

Do many teens still actually smoke though? As a matter of interest?

asherbassad

starling wrote: »

Yeah, some kids are just going to try smoking, it's not really fair to decide they must have sh1tty parents. Especially when one parent dies while the kids are still so young.

Although as far as the actual e-cig issue, I think she's wrong to be complaining about the school. For his own sake, this kid should be using an ecig because it's better than him smoking fags, but that doesn't mean the school should be condoning it. If he managed to hide the real fags from his ma surely he can hide an ecig from his teachers. It's not like he has to worry about the smell and smoke.

Oh, I'm in total agreement with you. Allowing a kid to have an ecig in school is a travesty. The mother is rightfully upset that her kid got hooked on nicotine so easily but he's still growing. His body should be able to shake off the cravings easier than an adult. As a smoker I know how difficult it is to quit but I never had a problem stopping when I was younger. The ecig, while better than ingesting tar is still a band-aid on a bullet wound. I have no advice for those wishing to quit smoking any more than I have advice for anyone attempting to change any vagary in their life.

But then again....if he met a nice, healthy, sexy girl who told him "lose that habit or I'm outta here", he'd quit the smokes pretty quick. :pac:

One eyed Jack

One eyed Jack wrote: »

I never claimed I wasn't an idiot though, but even then I wouldn't be the idiot that allows my child to smoke in the first place.

Ah yes there was an article on something like somewhere recently I am sure

Actually quite a few parents do not even know when their children have picked up habits of this sort. Even at the best of times - let alone at times when - as the article states - they are in a period of life up-heaving grief such as losing the father/husband to death.

jamesbere wrote: »

If I was caught smoking at that age I would of got some clatter across the head from my parents.

Would it have helped? Aside from her ridiculous expectation to have the school change its smoking policy for one child - it appears from what little has been written in the thread so far that she has been quite supportive in guiding him through methods of breaking an addiction.

Trond

starling wrote: »

No. Got a link or something?

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/86104/20150919/man-seriously-injured-after-e-cigarette-explodes-in-his-face.htm

Sounds horrific tbf. Faulty batteries are probably the cause. Pity it doesn't mention what type it was or a brand name.

It can happen with any battery powered device really.

FionnK86

Give poor Mason a break, he's only just made it out of Vorkuta.

Jayop

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Do many teens still actually smoke though? As a matter of interest?

There was about 30 18 y/o's out the back of my local one night in August and almost every single one of them was smoking.

starling

Trond wrote: »

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/86104/20150919/man-seriously-injured-after-e-cigarette-explodes-in-his-face.htm

Sounds horrific tbf. Faulty batteries are probably the cause. Pity it doesn't mention what type it was or a brand name.

It can happen with any battery powered device really.

Exactly, which is why it pisses me off when people hear the word "ecigarette" and immediately derail any conversation with their scary stories. They're always light on detail and big on catastrophising. Like, oh, electricity is dangerous? Well thank god you told me.

darkpagandeath

Who is smoking ? And what is meant by 10 a day ? Do they mean the catomizers ?

starling

That article is exactly what I'm talking about.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, at least 25 incidents of injuries and fires caused by e-cigarettes were reported from 2009 to 2014. No deaths were recorded, though a few incidents resulted in serious injuries."

25 injuries and/or fires caused by ecigarettes in five years. And how many idiots burned their houses down with candles in that timespan?

"Us getting the word out prevents e-cigarettes from injuring another person," Lauria's father said, something he added would be a good thing to do at this time.

Yeah. Scare stories, no detail about what kind of ecigarette or battery this kid was using, or where he got it from, just "OMG did someone mention ecigarettes?ecigarettes are bad!!!1!" Drives me insane.

Trond

starling wrote: »

Exactly, which is why it pisses me off when people hear the word "ecigarette" and immediately derail any conversation with their scary stories. They're always light on detail and big on catastrophising. Like, oh, electricity is dangerous? Well thank god you told me.

If you google mobile phone exploding you'll find far more stories than ecigs but for whatever reason the press really seem to love tales where an ecig nearly burnt down the whole house etc.

The majority of the time its human error as well (using the wrong charger is by far the most common).

Medusa22

starling wrote: »

Wait, where did you get that from, it doesn't say in the article what age he was when he started smoking




Primary school? He's 14. I hear terrible things about the UK education standards but I'm pretty sure it's not THAT bad.

Sorry, that's my fault, I didn't read it properly and thought it said 'ten year old' instead of '10-a-day'.

asherbassad

Sam Kade wrote: »

Did you hear about the man in the U.S. Last week, he got his face destroyed from an exploding e cig it blew a hole in the roof of his mouth. As for letting him smoke it on the playground, what will they want to be left do then? You have to draw the line somewhere;)

Is that the same guy who got shot in the balls and then the bullet flew another mile, lodged in a woman's vagina and got her pregnant? That guy?

starling

Trond wrote: »

If you google mobile phone exploding you'll find far more stories than ecigs but for whatever reason the press really seem to love tales where an ecig nearly burnt down the whole house etc.

The majority of the time its human error as well (using the wrong charger is by far the most common).

Yep. The last one I remember was the video of the ecig exploding in a bar. Scary ecig story: barman plugs in his pen-style battery behind the bar while he's working, battery explodes, innocent barmaid narrowly escapes being tragically scarred for life by greedy Chinese manufacturers of dodgy new-fangled fad. Moral of the story, as usual: ecigs are dangerous!

Took 4 articles before I found the details nobody thought were important enough to mention: barman plugged ecig battery into his iPhone charger. Thought it would be okay because it was a USB connection.
Moral of the story: some barmen are idiots.

starling

Medusa22 wrote: »

Sorry, that's my fault, I didn't read it properly and thought it said 'ten year old' instead of '10-a-day'.

Ahhhh that explains the primary school part :P

starling

Deleted User wrote: »

Actually quite a few parents do not even know when their children have picked up habits of this sort. Even at the best of times - let alone at times when - as the article states - they are in a period of life up-heaving grief such as losing the father/husband to death.



Would it have helped? Aside from her ridiculous expectation to have the school change its smoking policy for one child - it appears from what little has been written in the thread so far that she has been quite supportive in guiding him through methods of breaking an addiction.

Yeah it took my parents years to find out I was smoking. YEARS. And no, nothing they said or did made a difference. Maybe if they'd never smoked, I might not have started, but I know smokers whose parents didn't smoke.

Jayop

starling wrote: »

That article is exactly what I'm talking about.



25 injuries and/or fires caused by ecigarettes in five years. And how many idiots burned their houses down with candles in that timespan?




Yeah. Scare stories, no detail about what kind of ecigarette or battery this kid was using, or where he got it from, just "OMG did someone mention ecigarettes?ecigarettes are bad!!!1!" Drives me insane.

More people probably got burnt by calculators going on fire in that same period. If there was only 25 in 5 years in the US then they really are safer than I would have expected.

One eyed Jack

Deleted User wrote: »

Ah yes there was an article on something like somewhere recently I am sure

Actually quite a few parents do not even know when their children have picked up habits of this sort. Even at the best of times - let alone at times when - as the article states - they are in a period of life up-heaving grief such as losing the father/husband to death.

At 14 years of age, the child understands the health implications of smoking, and the parent certainly knows the health implications of smoking.

Deleted User wrote: »

Aside from her ridiculous expectation to have the school change its smoking policy for one child - it appears from what little has been written in the thread so far that she has been quite supportive in guiding him through methods of breaking an addiction.

But that's just it - the school already has a smoking cessation programme. Supporting her child would have first of all been to take the cigarettes from him, not allow him to smoke an electronic cigarette (no matter who bought it for him!), which simply feeds the addiction to nicotine, but does nothing to break the habit. This is a 14 year old child we're talking about. If it were an adult, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.

starling

One eyed Jack wrote: »

At 14 years of age, the child understands the health implications of smoking, and the parent certainly knows the health implications of smoking.

to be fair, everyone knows the health implications of smoking, but that doesn't mean everyone makes the best choices for their health. Particularly children.

One eyed Jack wrote: »

But that's just it - the school already has a smoking cessation programme. Supporting her child would have first of all been to take the cigarettes from him, not allow him to smoke an electronic cigarette (no matter who bought it for him!), which simply feeds the addiction to nicotine, but does nothing to break the habit. This is a 14 year old child we're talking about. If it were an adult, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.

In fairness to the mother she says they've already tried other methods including patches, and if I were her I would sooner let him use an ecig than have nicotine patches. Both statistics and his own experience indicate that the ecig is a better choice for him than patches. I'm not even sure why we are having this conversation I thought it was just more "let's bash a parent" time. She's not wrong to let him have an ecig, just wrong to be trying to insist on him being allowed to use it at school.

darkpagandeath

One eyed Jack wrote: »

At 14 years of age, the child understands the health implications of smoking, and the parent certainly knows the health implications of smoking.





But that's just it - the school already has a smoking cessation programme. Supporting her child would have first of all been to take the cigarettes from him, not allow him to smoke an electronic cigarette (no matter who bought it for him!), which simply feeds the addiction to nicotine, but does nothing to break the habit. This is a 14 year old child we're talking about. If it were an adult, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.

Who is smoking ?

starling

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Who is smoking ?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=97152920&postcount=1

darkpagandeath

starling wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=97152920&postcount=1

Yeah the Kid used to smoke. Now is not.

One eyed Jack

starling wrote: »

to be fair, everyone knows the health implications of smoking, but that doesn't mean everyone makes the best choices for their health. Particularly children.

That's what a parent or guardian is for surely? This is why I can't get my head around the mother complaining about the school policy, and complaining that the school intervened without her consent? She knows that the school policy doesn't allow smoking, and yet she takes issue with the school, rather than her son, and surely enrolling her son in the school cessation programme and allowing them to help her son would be a better alternative to enabling him to smoke an ecigarette?

In fairness to the mother she says they've already tried other methods including patches, and if I were her I would sooner let him use an ecig than have nicotine patches. Both statistics and his own experience indicate that the ecig is a better choice for him than patches. I'm not even sure why we are having this conversation I thought it was just more "let's bash a parent" time. She's not wrong to let him have an ecig, just wrong to be trying to insist on him being allowed to use it at school.

She is misguided IMO to allow her 14 year old child to smoke an ecigarette, she's also misguided to complain that her son isn't allowed contravene school policy regarding smoking, and she is also misguided in complaining that the school intervened without her consent, instead of enrolling him in the school smoking cessation programme.

I didn't start this thread with the intention of 'parent bashing', I started it with the intent of wondering what the hell is going on there, and what were posters opinions on ecigarettes themselves, and whether or not they would allow their child to smoke an ecigarette, or smoke at all, or what way would be the best way to tackle the issue of children smoking.

I don't know if I'd go as far as this guy though if I caught my child smoking

THE CRIME MAY be a classic teenage misdemeanour, but this punishment is decidedly of the 21st century.

An Irish dad caught his 15-year-old son smoking last week for the SECOND time, and decided drastic action needed to be taken.

So he confiscated the teenager’s undoubtedly cherished iPhone – then put it up on DoneDeal. And for what price? A measly €1.

"Grounding him did not do the trick so hopefully this teaches him."

The iPhone does not appear to have found a buyer yet, so perhaps we can assume that Dad just intended to teach a very harsh lesson. *clutches iPhone tightly*

Source: This Irish dad caught his son smoking and issued the harshest punishment ever

starling

One eyed Jack wrote: »

That's what a parent or guardian is for surely? This is why I can't get my head around the mother complaining about the school policy, and complaining that the school intervened without her consent? She knows that the school policy doesn't allow smoking, and yet she takes issue with the school, rather than her son, and surely enrolling her son in the school cessation programme and allowing them to help her son would be a better alternative to enabling him to smoke an ecigarette?





She is misguided IMO to allow her 14 year old child to smoke an ecigarette, she's also misguided to complain that her son isn't allowed contravene school policy regarding smoking, and she is also misguided in complaining that the school intervened without her consent, instead of enrolling him in the school smoking cessation programme.

I didn't start this thread with the intention of 'parent bashing', I started it with the intent of wondering what the hell is going on there, and what were posters opinions on ecigarettes themselves, and whether or not they would allow their child to smoke an ecigarette, or smoke at all, or what way would be the best way to tackle the issue of children smoking.

I don't know if I'd go as far as this guy though if I caught my child smoking





Source: This Irish dad caught his son smoking and issued the harshest punishment ever

What kind of idiot buys an iPhone for a 15 year old? Sure the Internet is full of sex predators and scammers. :pac:

Oh the topic, almost forgot lol: the situation is that the kid started smoking and is now a nicotine addict, so she's doing what she can to try to keep him off tobacco. It's not like she had a non smoking kid and just gave him an ecigarette. That would be misguided.

Could he have tried harder to stop smoking without the ecigarette? Possibly. He hasn't been smoking that long as other posters pointed out. Is she maybe being a bit overindulgent when she says he "was in a terrible state because he needed nicotine"? Possibly. But we can't really know that, we don't know him or her. She's doing her best on the stop-my-kid-from-killing-himself-with tobacco front. She's being ridiculous on the school front though.

starling

It's occurred to me that you keep talking about this "idiot" "allowing" her son to smoke ... he didn't ask her permission to smoke. He did that all by himself. She doesn't "allow" him to smoke because he doesn't smoke anymore. He vapes. She allows him to vape in order to stop him from smoking. It's only just occurred to me that you might be thinking of Vaping as "smoking." Apologies if I'm taking you up wrong, but it's important to be clear that Vaping is not smoking.

He says he wants to get off nicotine and i hope he is successful in his efforts, but we should note that nicotine alone is about as harmful as caffeine and yet there are people everywhere who allow their children to drink coffee and/or energy drinks. Personally I wouldn't allow a child of mine to be doing that, but nobody's going around calling them idiots. People actually look at me funny if I suggest that maybe children shouldn't be drinking caffeine. This kind of uninformed hysteria about ecigarettes really needs to stop.

Reiver

starling wrote: »

It's occurred to me that you keep talking about this "idiot" "allowing" her son to smoke ... he didn't ask her permission to smoke. He did that all by himself. She doesn't "allow" him to smoke because he doesn't smoke anymore. He vapes. She allows him to vape in order to stop him from smoking. It's only just occurred to me that you might be thinking of Vaping as "smoking." Apologies if I'm taking you up wrong, but it's important to be clear that Vaping is not smoking.

He says he wants to get off nicotine and i hope he is successful in his efforts, but we should note that nicotine alone is about as harmful as caffeine and yet there are people everywhere who allow their children to drink coffee and/or energy drinks. Personally I wouldn't allow a child of mine to be doing that, but nobody's going around calling them idiots. People actually look at me funny if I suggest that maybe children shouldn't be drinking caffeine. This kind of uninformed hysteria about ecigarettes really needs to stop.

I hate all those idiotic parents who let kids touch meat when we all know the vegan lifestyle is the way forward.

Seriously though, that kid just looks like a complete prat now. She's just leaving him open for bullying if he's using those ecigarette things. It's like a baby with a dummy. I couldn't have that on my conscience.