The effect of the teachers smoking behavior on their involvement in smoking education in the schools.

Abstract

The smoking behavior and attitudes of public school teachers were studied to determine if the teachers' smoking behavior is related to their attitudes and behavior regarding students' smoking practice and smoking education in schools. The Northampton, Massachusetts, School System was studied, where 162 of the 194 teachers randomly selected from various schools in the district completed the close-ended questionnaires administered and collected by the researcher. The study yielded a return rate of 83 percent. The results of the study showed that the general climate in school is one conducive to the establishment of a comprehensive smoking education program. It also indicates that the teachers' attitudes and behavior towards smoking education were closely related to their smoking behavior. The ex-smokers were the most active group in attempting to initiate student smoking behavior change, while the smoking teachers were the least active in this respect. Furthermore, pre-service and in-service teacher training programs in relation to smoking education were shown to be extremely sparse and ineffective in the past. This study suggests the need to strengthen pre-service and in-service teacher training programs in smoking education and to make smoking cessation programs available to those teacher who want to stop smoking.