Look who's sneaking behind the shed for an illicit smoke

Teachers are imitating pupils by sneaking out during breaks, hiding in sheds and breaching smokefree rules to get a nicotine fix, a study has found.

The Auckland University study looked at the smoking habits of more than 2000 school and early childhood teachers from all over New Zealand.

It found some teachers were prepared to break smokefree laws for their daily fix, but that only a small proportion of teachers now smoke.

The study, conducted by the Centre for Tobacco Control Research at School of Population Health, found the majority of teachers - 68 per cent - had never smoked.

A quarter were ex-smokers and 7 per cent smoked.

Of the 110 who smoked, 74 did so every day, 19 about once a week, and 17 less than once a week.

One-third smoked roll-your-owns.

Most participants believed their school to be smokefree all or most of the time but 47 teachers admitted their colleagues broke the rules.

They said some hid in their cars or in the caretaker's shed.

Only two in the survey admitted to smoking on school grounds, and more than half said they went more than 10m from the school gates.

Some teachers went to private houses nearby or "around the block" to have a cigarette.

More early childhood teachers than other teacher smoked, and the proportion on smokers was higher at low-decile school than at high-decile school.

The report said the Smokefree Environments Amendment Act, which required schools and early childhood centres to be smokefree at the beginning of 2004, had a big effect on teachers' smoking habits.

Of the 148 teachers who smoked when the law was implemented, 51 said they had changed their smoking habits as a result of the act - 37 cut down, 18 tried to quit and 13 stopped altogether.

Eighty-eight per cent of teachers agreed they could influence the smoking attitudes and behaviour of their students, and 79 per cent believed they should set an example by not smoking.

"I have smoked since I was nine," said one teacher. "I am very adamant I will try to change this scenario for the children I teach."

THE FIGURES

7 per cent of teachers smoke, compared with 21 per cent of general population.

62 per cent support increasing the price of tobacco.

79 per cent of teachers believe they should set a good example.

8 per cent of teachers who smoke daily do so within five minutes of waking up.