I visited South High School yesterday and was amazed to find out that the "administration" at South allows children (students) to smoke outside the building. The common areas at South smelled like a smoky bar, so I asked the woman who checks id's and issues visitor passes what was up. She told me that students are now allowed to smoke right outside the doors of the school. I said "I thought that it was illegal for students to smoke on school property, and I knew it is illegal to smoke under the age of 18. She said, 'no it's not'. There were two of Minneapolis' finest parked outside as I was leaving and asked the officers what was going on with the smoking policy. The officers told me that were instructed to "ignore student smoking". They also thought it was ridiculous. How on earth can a school decide what is legal or illegal? Why is South encouraging illegal, unhealthy activity. C ould someone enlighten me on this unusual policy?
Barbara Murray
Riverside Park
