SCHOOLS AND SMOKING: SCHOOL FEATURES AND VARIATIONS IN CIGARETTE SMOKING BY CHILDREN AND TEACHERS

Abstract

S ummary . There is a need for greater understanding of influences on childhood uptake of the smoking habit. Some evidence has been put forward that ‘school characteristics' as much as the personal characteristics of children and their families may play some role. A cohort study in Derbyshire secondary schools provided an opportunity to examine this thesis. The role of school organisational features unrelated to smoking, such as are found to affect educational achievement, was generally slight and inconclusive. Other more directly related issues such as health education provided counter‐intuitive results which may suggest a reversal of the causal hypothesis. Social class and peer influences were important and underline the need for a better understanding of the psychology of life‐styles and role‐modelling in smoking behaviour modification.