FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Smoking in any form is not allowed in Forsyth County School District facilities, however, the way policy is written — visitors are not included.
Connie Trent, Forsyth County School's health services facilitator, said that by adding the word "visitors" to the district policy, the county schools would be eligible for free tobacco-free signage and all sorts of information and resources for students and parents on how they can quit. Best of all, it's not going to cost the county anything.
"It will be nice to see the signage out there," Trent said. "The key is 'tobacco-free' because kids are dipping now (chewing tobacco), they are doing other things."
About 88 percent of adult smokers, who smoke daily, say they started smoking by the age of 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Each day in the United States, nearly 4,000 people younger than 18 years of age smoke their first cigarette, according to the CDC, and an estimated 1,000 youth in that age group become new daily cigarette smokers. This means nearly 400,000 young people become daily smokers each year.
The Ga. Smokefree Air Act, which prohibits smoking in most public places, makes school campuses smoke-free zones, Trent said, but the change adds the district to a growing list of about 91 that are 100 percent tobacco-free districts. There are 181 school districts in the state.
"Forsyth County is a leader in Georgia," Trent said. "We need to be included to say our schools stand up and are a tobacco-free example. We're promoting health, promoting a good example."
The student handbook was recently changed to also include electronic cigarettes.
"It's too much promoting smoking," Trent said. "It's an addictive habit and we don't want to encourage that with our students."
The Forsyth County Board of Education will take up the issue at their next regular meeting, 6 p.m. Aug. 15.
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