Survey Indicates Nearly 20 Percent of Chinese Middle School Students Smoke

Smoking has been a hot topic since the implementation of the new smoking ban last Monday and new data shows that adults are not the only ones lighting up on a regular basis. A survey completed by the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control (BCDPC) indicates that smoking is more common among Chinese middle schoolers than expected. 

The survey, released on June 2, took data from 1,736 primary and middle schools in our fair capital. Over 30 percent of the schools inspected had shops selling cigarettes within 100 meters, according to China News. Under the new June 1 regulations, this is now also illegal.

The findings indicated that there were a total of 135 shops where underaged students from these schools went to buy cigarettes, and out of those, 108 shops illegally sold them cigarettes 80 percent of the time. The legal age for individuals to buy cigarettes in China is 16.

Results also indicate that 8.3 percent of school doctors, in the past year, have come across students smoking on campus. Out of these 8.3 percent, 2.9 percent say they have seen female students smoking.

Ecns.com adds that 10.5 percent of Beijing's primary and middle schools have yet to implement anti-smoking rules, while 8.8 percent still allow smoking in designated areas. One issue for these schools is that 33.7 percent of male staff smoke, potentially acting as poor role models for the student body. Only 0.2 percent of female employees said that they smoke.

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Photo: China Daily