Abu Dhabi school students light up at neighbouring restaurants

Abu Dhabi: Cafés and restaurants close to schools in Abu Dhabi’s Muroor area are becoming smoking dens for pupils, XPRESS has learnt.

Shopkeepers and residents of the area said pupils — some even as young as 10 or 12 — who frequent the area are heavy smokers. “It is shocking to see these youngsters come to my restaurant and smoke every day. Some of them are as young as 10 or 12,” Mangal Singh, supervisor at Oasis Gardens Chinese restaurant, told XPRESS.

When XPRESS visited a café near the 29th street on Tuesday afternoon after school hours, two out of the three tables in the small café were occupied by pupils: four girls and three boys.

These youngsters were from a French school nearby and this was evident from their conversation in French and their uniforms which had the school’s emblem. Snacks and sandwiches disappeared from their table in no time. And what seemed like an unsuspicious after-school snacking session with friends was actually a long smoking session — a daily ritual for many pupils.

Cigarette packets, pipes and lighters were whipped out of school bags. A finished snack plate was turned into an ashtray and for the next half hour or so, they kept puffing on cigarettes and exchanging lighters and jokes.

When done, the lighters and cigarettes went back into the school bags, bills were paid and they left for home.

“We do not know from where they get the cigarettes. But they come here daily and smoke,” said a waiter at the café.

He said he has been seeing pupils from the French school at the café for the past four years.

The principal of the French school told XPRESS that they are aware of the problem and are trying to tackle it. “We know about it. We have a committee in school consisting of students, parents and teachers to build awareness among students to curb the tobacco habit,” said the principal.

Singh from the nearby Chinese restaurant said he has stopped pupils from smoking in his outlet.

Age proof

Though the legal age to buy cigarettes is 18, groceries in the area say they are often pestered by pupils to sell to them. “We know the rules. But when they insist on buying cigarettes, we ask them for their IDs as proof of age,” said Mohammad Koya, a grocery owner.

But nothing seems to dissuade these young smokers. One of the pupils told XPRESS: “It is not a big deal. Everybody smokes.”

The UAE Ministry of Health and other government entities have been running anti-smoking awareness campaigns to curb the tobacco habit, especially among youngsters, but the message does not seem to be getting across.

According to a UAE Ministry of Health study conducted in 2011, 40 per cent of school students in the age group 13 to 15 are smokers. Another study in Abu Dhabi showed that 28 per cent of children aged 15 and below are smokers, while 30 per cent youngsters aged 18 are smokers. Parents who spoke with XPRESS said they are hoping the new anti-tobacco federal law which will come into effect on January 21 will curb smoking among young children.