Teachers Smoking
 

i am in college and i have a 2 hour english class this quarter. in the middle of the 2 hours the teacher gives us a 10 minute break, which is a good thing. no one can pay attention to a teacher completely for 2 hours. the problem that i have is that he tells us it is so that he can go out and smoke. i just think it is sad that he cannot go 2 hours without smoking. we have watched movies in class which take 2 hours, so we all sit there and watch them, but he has to run out in the middle and have his smoke. it just makes me kind of mad, and feel bad for him, so i was wondering what other people thought about this. it is also sucks because other people go out and smoke with him during the breaks, and it is enough that the whole room smells like smoke when they get back. maybe im just mad because he is a crappy teacher though.

I don't see why it should be that big of a deal. SO what he smokes.. so what he can't go more than two hours. It's his decision.

His decision to smoke is his decision. However, if I were paying for this class, and paying for a 2 hour class, and not getting my money's worth, I would be annoyed.

If 10 minutes are just 10 minutes, then it might not be so bad, but I've been in too many training classes, and business meetings where 10 minutes turns into 30.

I would just be thankful for the break. Sure it sucks that it smells like smoke when they get back, but what are you gonna do?

i guess i am just kind of mad at him for other reasons too. he cancelled 5 of our 22 classes, but we never got a warning when. it is my only night class so that means driving to school and walking to class, and then walking right back and having to drive home. every other teacher is nice enough to send an email to the class.

If you have a problem, I suggest talking with the professor. Venting on an online message board isn't going to get you anywhere.

I'd be grateful for a 10 minute break.

The problem here is that you are, in fact, paying him to smoke. I would go to the registrar of the school and ask that the cost of the class be decreased by the 10 minutes that are being missed and see what they say. Two hours in not too long to sit in a class without a break, in fact, it's the perfect length and if his addiction is too strong for that, then I pity him if he ever has to fly ANYWHERE because no flight is going to last less than 2 hours, and he will not be able to smoke on any airline that I know of.

I agree with your take on it, it's pathetic. It's not his choice, it's his problem, and probably, if I dare say, his weakness, and everyone in that class is paying for that. It is pathetic.

Peace,

Pierre

i think the best solution here is that you just start smoking.
not really, but people who smoke ARE still people. It's a shitty habit just like cracking your knuckles or picking your nose, etc. it isnt pleasant to some, but there isnt any real course of action you can take to stop them. Imagine how big of an ass the guy would be (or how much more, seeing as you already dislike him) if you went through the administration and had them make him stop doing it. Most heavy smokers turn foul fast when they cant have their fix.

lol your teacher is really super style!!!

I had a teacher that smoked cigars (this was in Junior High) during class, he was the gym teacher. :lol:

I guess I wouldn't say much in your situation. Yeah, he may stop class for 10 min but I guess I would welcome the break. Even if it his due to his addition, what he does on it, as long as its legal, should be his business. I do find it sad that he can't go two hours without having a nic fit but I think that trying to have him teach through it would be worse than a 10 min break and starting again.

Now the cancelling class without notice, that I would complain to the school about. That is a waste of your time and money.

I would check with your school to see their policy on refunding money on missed classes. I'm not sure if this was true, but there was a rumor at my school that if the teach was more than 15 minutes late, or cancelled a class you could get a fraction of the tuition back. If it really bugs you that much.

I wish I had teachers that smoked when I was in school. Would have made class a shit load easier to take.

I would have to agree with those who said welcome the break. I feel that 2 hours with no break is not good. I can barely make it through a 1 hr and 15 min class. but the idea of him not being able to make it through a class movie? that is sad

i dont want to get the teacher in trouble, and although getting some money back from the school would be nice, i dont want that either. the class is almost over now, i was just wondering what some people thought about this. i guess i just felt like complaining.

i have never heard of getting money for cancelled classes before, but i would get a lot this quarter. i think all of my classes have been cancelled a few times, which is unusual.

I hate breaks in class. I have one class that is from 10-1230 and we are suppose to have a 15 min break in there, but the teacher asked us the first class if we would rather just go 2 hours straight and get out early. Lucky for me, the people in my class are as eager to learn as I am.

I have another teacher who is always 10-20 min late for class. Being late wouldn't bother me that much, but I see him in the halls walking around when I get there(10 min early). I always wonder wtf he does for 20-30 min while we are waiting for him.

If I had a teacher taking away from my time like that I too would be upset.

I find it ironic that you raise a major stink over him taking 10 minutes out of two hours for a smoke break, thereby commiting the gross crime of smelling like smoke, when you let the fact that he cancelled five out of 22 classes, with no notice whatsoever, slip by with barely a comment. Priorities?

Good eye there.

I don't know about your school, but at my school, any class that lasts two hours or more always involves a ten minute break. I think this based on the idea that one's ability to pay attention significantly decreases over time without a break.

If you have a problem not getting your money's worth, you should avoid college all together. Part of college is coming to terms with how stupid and backwards things can be.

Plus you get plenty of options. Stand up and stretch, chat, organize notes, take a piss... I love midclass breaks. There's only so much I can take at a time before my mind... what was I saying? :)
But seriously. If you really hate the breaks, either talk to him or find something to do that you consider productive (notes, start homework).

You're upset because you think he cannot be without a cigarette for two hours (an addiction) but then you say that "no one can pay attention to a techer competely for two hours"? It seems to be that you should learn to have a longer attention span first, then critisize them for taking a smoke break. I have a professor that was very pregnant and could never go a whole hour and half class because she had to pee so bad so she had to take frequent bathroom breaks. Is that any different?

When I was in college back in the late 60s teachers and students could smoke cigarettes, cigars, and pipes in class. Of course we took breaks anyway. You had to go outside to smoke pot, LOL.

All of the classes at the school I attend have breaks as they run 3-4 hours. most breaks are 10 minutes after 90 minutes and one instructor gives 10 minutes after every hour-maybe because it's animation and hard on the brain-he doesn't smoke and sometimes stays in the room to help students.
I think your issues, as stated by others, run a bit deeper than the fact that this teacher smokes. Change the class then.

i never said that i dont like the break. i guess i just dont like the teacher. i am suprised at all the responses that i got though.

Hmmm...how many of you smoke? While it's true that I CAN go two hours without smoking (the flight from Lajes to Baltimore is 5 or 6 hours), it's really better for everyone if I don't wait that long.

I could see it being a problem if he were, say, an elementary school teacher or something similar...but a college prof? It isn't like he's influencing the class to smoke or contributing to underage smoking.

Okay, I know...smoking is stupid, yada yada yada. But most two hour classes have a break in there somewhere, and you can bet if a smoker gets a break, yeah, he (or she) is going to sieze the opportunity.

I say welcome the break...it could be worse. One of my instructors would take breaks to talk on his cell phone to his gf during lecture. He was a winner.

Not to threadjack, but on this topic's note, I go to school next door to a big hospital. There's a sort of back door that's between the hospital and my building we use frequently to get to the hospital cafeteria (hey, it's cheaper and closer than the university ones...) and there's always a ridiculous amount of doctors and nurses out there puffing away. I just find it ironic because I know its standard practice in there to advise and discuss smoking cesassition programs with any patient of theirs they discover smokes. I bet the docs are not telling the patients where they are headed too right after they finish up with the exam...

Well, I get hungry alot. So if I ate every two hours, would skinny people who know me get mad? People are going to do what they want to do... there is no stopping it, it's human nature.

I just can't stand seeing doctors and nurses in scrubs outside the hospital smoking. You represent good health, and you shouldn't advocate bad health in such an obvious way.

Why shouldn't you? I don't see it as advocating or promoting bad health, it's more like exercising one's self-determination. Because you smoke means you can't be a health practitioner? What if you're the most gifted, talented surgeon on earth, who just happens to have a nicotine habit? I can see how you might say it's hypocritical of a doctor to be offering smoking cessation programmes to his smoking patients, if he himself is a smoker, but on the other hand, you have the option, actually, no, the right to ignore him. Bearing in mind he's a medical professional, don't you think he knows even more acutely what he's doing to himself by lighting up? Who, then, are you to say he shouldn't?

There is a reason why typical classes are 55 minutes long. The break allows a person to regroup and learn better, as attention starts to wain at the hour mark, which many studies have shown.

It is rude however to not let your students know if their will not be classes when you yourself have ample notice, and frankly, 5 of 22 is excessive.

I personally would complain to the dean of the department.

The way I see this is:
Small itty bitty ass potatos. Tiny teeeny fucking thing to be talking about.

I see your taking time to whine on the board about how truely awful it is for you to have to deal with those stinky smokers and a ten minute break as a much more significant problem than the smoke break you're complaining about.

Chill the fuck out. It's a ten minute break. I'd complain to you that you're complaining about a smoking break! There are things in life you may not like, college is supposed to prepare you for reality. The reality is some people choose to smoke. They choose to smell. They choose to not give a FUCK you think they smell. Live and let live.

I've graduated college, been there done what you're talking about. I LOVED breaks in a 2 hour class. I need to pee sometimes, you know? Sometimes I even took advantage to go outside and chill w/the smokers MY GOD !! what a crazy fucked up idea! It felt good to stand up for a minute, and talk to people. I even made more friends that way! What a concept, talking to the dirty smokers...

I'll tell you what, you got a problem w/smoking. Fine, don't smoke. There you go. You have kids? Tell them WHY you don't smoke, then see if your opinions are worth anything to them. Kids'll smoke or won't, heavily based on what thier parents tell them. Now keep your opinions on what's healthy off your professor's body! Okay?! Thanks!

The only valid complaint I see on this thread is that your prof cancels class without notice, and exessively. That's BS, and you should bring it to his concern...that's right, the correct way to deal w/that is to TELL the man, face to face, that you're concerned and upset that you've missed 5 classes that you've paid for, and didn't feel there was adaquate notice. If the prof can't professionally handle a valid student concern, professionally voiced, then and only then, do you jump over his head and complain to every superior he has.

If I was the man's dean, and you came to me the first thing I'd ask you is if you'd talked to the prof about your concern. If you said "NO" I'd tell you that's right where your staring point is. But then again, I believe in personal responsibility, his AND yours.

For all you know, the guy has a wife w/cancer who went to the emergecy room 5 times. Maybe he didn't send an email because he was dialing 911. Point is, you don't know. Find out if you're so concerned about it.

I'm sure I'm making more about this than you are, and more than you meant, but hey, that's what message boards are all about.

Have fun in college! Have a shot, a smoke, a fuck, and an overdo paper all at once. You'll never forget it.