SMOKING THRILLS FOR KIDS AS YOUNG AS 11

Schools may teach children that smoking is anti-social unhealthy and smelly, but children will still experiment with cigarettes from their early teens, even in independent schools. Tania Alexander faced this with son, Alex

I remember the horrendous row when we caught our son Alex buying a pack of cigarettes. He was only aged 13. Neither his father or I smoked and I had naively assumed that, being a health writer, my son would be sensible enough not to take up smoking.

There was something about Alex that day that made us check up on him. We dropped him near Starbucks to meet some friends and then drove round the block to check he had gone in. Much to our horror we saw him striding out of a newsagent with a pack of Marlboros in his hand. There was no pretending that they were for someone else either as he already had one in his hand and was about to light it. I looked on aghast as his father jumped out of the car and confronted him. A huge row followed after which Alex was so upset he refused to come out of the car for an hour. I sat with him and tried to reason with him. I explained that his father was only angry because smoking was so bad for him. It fell on deaf ears.

Our case is not unique. Despite all the government's plans to reduce smoking by banning it in public places it is still something that many teenagers seem obliged to try. Many that do dabble will end up hooked. According to QUIT, a charity for helping people give up smoking, 450 young people start smoking every day and by the age of 16 two-thirds of children have tried it. Children are also starting to smoke far younger than many parents realise. By the age of 11, one third of children will have tried their first cigarette and three quarters of children are aware of cigarettes before they reach the age of five. Being at an independent school is no protection - they'll be exposed to cigarettes, plus children at boarding school oft en have access to more funds.

"We have a total ban on smoking at school," says Vicky Tuck, the Principal of Cheltenham Ladies College in Gloucestershire "but there will always be a few girls who sneak down an alleyway to have a cigarette. It's diffi cult to prevent it when it happens outside the school. I can't ask my staff to patrol the alleyways."

"Smoking is a thoroughly disgusting habit and in order to stop children smoking, parents have to give up and so do teachers," says Dr Anthony Seldon, headmaster of Wellington College in Berkshire.