Smoking and discipline problems among rural secondary school students in Kelantan

Abstract

A study was conducted among four rural secondary school students in Kelantan to determine the prevalence of smoking, and it's association with other discipline problems. A total of 224 students in Form four were selected by a random cluster sampling of the classes. The selected students were assessed on their smoking behaviour and discipline problems by a questionnaire. The prevalence of smoking was 44.2% among the boys. None of the girls smoked. The smokers tend to have more discipline problems other than smoking. They were involved more in 'being disobedient to teachers', 'fighting among students' and 'vice'. It was often difficult to take disciplinary action on the students since a number of teachers were themselves smokers. Role models should be set both in schools and at home.