It used to be an ace up the sleeve that people watched for but for me as a teacher it was a note that I watched for. Now however it is more likely to be a nicotine patch hidden up that sleeve.

Victoria (Australia) has just started their senior level exams and there are a number of students ‘caught’ with patches on their arms as the exam can be up to three hours and that is too long to go without a puff. Oddly, there wasn’t as great a need when some students were cigarette smokers.

The concern with patches isn’t related to exam performance but rather to the epidemic of young people vaping even where it is banned but that’s the nature of addiction. The ever semi-reliable Google search tells me that many cigarette manufacturers are behind vapes given that old-fashioned cigarette smoking rates are declining, thank heavens.

No one can seriously argue that cigarettes or vapes are good for people and given the many who have died from their effects it’s time to ban them in all forms. Live long and healthy, which will be easier if you have no addictions.

Dennis Fitzgerald,
Melbourne, Australia