Australian Health Promotion Association

Donna Watson, Marewa Glover, Judith McCool, Chris Bullen, Brian Adams and Sandar Min

Introduction: Teachers hold positions of responsibility and influence. They are required to support school tobacco control policies, and some teachers lead tobacco prevention curricula.1 Regardless of whether they are seen as role models by a school community or as mirrors of broader social norms, teachers’ smoking-related attitudes and behaviour have the potential to influence their students. In fact, research has shown that students’ perceived exposure to teachers’ smoking is associated with an increased risk of student smoking2-5 and lower student disapproval of smoking.5,6 More generally, exposure to people who smoke and the ensuing perception that smoking is normative may influence children’s attitudes to smoking before they actually try their first cigarette.7,8

New Zealand’s Smoke-free Environments Amendment Act 2003 (SFEAA) requires that buildings and grounds of all schools and early childhood centres (ECCs) be smokefree (i.e. with no smoking by anyone) at all times. One aim of the SFEAA was to “prevent young people...[in schools and ECCs]...from being influenced by seeing other people smoke there” (Part 1, section 4b, SFEAA 2003). Enforcement of the SFEAA legally falls to school and ECC managers, who are required to “take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure there is no smoking on the premises”.9 Guidelines for compliance are provided and school and ECC managers are encouraged to “seek co-operation” from staff and all users of school and ECC premises to make them smokefree.9

While smokefree restrictions might be expected to increase quitting attempts and lead to reduced tobacco consumption among teachers and other school staff,10 in some cases they have inadvertently resulted in increased student exposure to teachers smoking outdoors.11,12

Despite the powerful influence teachers may have on student smoking, little is known about how the introduction of the SFEAA affected teachers’ current smoking behaviour. A national survey of NZ teachers was conducted to determine which teachers smoke, where and when they smoke, and what changes, if any, teachers who smoked when the SFEAA was implemented at the beginning of 2004, made to their behaviour. Teachers’ perceptions of their school’s or ECC’s adherence to the SFEAA was also examined.

Our study aimed to oversample Māori, the indigenous people of NZ, who have high smoking prevalence rates (50% versus 22% for women in the overall population and 40% versus 26% for men overall).13

Issue addressed: New Zealand’s (NZ) smokefree legislation, implemented on 1 January 2004, requires that all school and early childhood centre buildings and grounds are 100% smokefree; one aim being to prevent young people being influenced by seeing people (including teachers) smoke there. This study, conducted in 2008, investigated teachers’ smoking behaviour and perceived adherence to the legislation.
Methods: A national NZ cross-sectional survey of 2,004 teachers (oversampling Māori), who were randomly selected from the electoral roll of registered voters and sent postal invitations to complete an anonymous survey.
Results: The response rate was 70%. Current smokers numbered 7%, and proportionately more Māori and Pacific Island teachers (12% each) smoked than European/Other teachers (7%). Of current smokers, 37% smoked non-daily. Smokers smoked less on work than nonwork days. Introducing smokefree legislation was associated with teachers changing when they smoked, cutting down, quitting or trying to quit. Perceived compliance with the legislation was high, although 30% of teachers reported seeing staff smoking. Proportionately, significantly more teachers from low than from high socioeconomic schools perceived poor compliance and staff visibly smoking.
Conclusions: Smokefree legislation affects people’s smoking behaviour. Smoking in NZ is becoming confined to population subgroups defined by socioeconomic status and ethnicity. Our findings argue for supporting cessation among those who work with children and young people, and for targeting support at school communities in areas of low socioeconomic status or with large populations of Māori or Pacific peoples.
So what? Many smokers adapt to legislative restrictions on their smoking. Cessation support should target smokers most likely to be under increasing
pressure to stop smoking.

Health Promotion Journal of Australia 2011; 22: 166-71