German school puts up a wall to protect nonsmokers

This article is from Carl-von-Ossietzky-Gymnasium, a school located in Hamburg, Germany that is attended by students from fifth to 13 grades. Since the smoking age in Germany is 16, students are allowed to smoke on school campus, and at times teachers join the students to smoke.

The article below deals with the expensive cost of a wall in the schoolyard that was supposed to serve as a barrier between smokers and young students. However, according to Blair sophomore Soeren Schroeder, a foreign exchange student from Carl-von-Ossietzky-Gymanium who does not smoke, the barrier is useless. "It was a really stupid idea. I have no idea why they did it,” explains Schroeder. "Little children still see people smoking all over campus, and the barrier is so small it does not even cover anything.”

Read the brief article and feel free to provide your opinions on this issue:

An article from Carl-von-Ossietzky Gymnasium translated by sophomore Sören Schröder

Wood is a useful raw material if you want to produce tables, chairs, and other things similar to it. So, in such a case, it is plausible to cut down trees. However, cutting trees should be questioned if it is done in order to build an anti-smoking protecting wall on the schoolyard. Nevertheless the SGA at the Carl-von-Ossietzky Gymnasium suggested the idea and the school conference determined that "a wall must be built.”

Now, it's in the schoolyard, made of pure natural wood, which was subjected to a special procedure in order to protect it against bad weather, so that you can enjoy it for a long time.

Of course you can't neglect its function of protection. This "magnificent miracle,” that was put up in four hours, was mainly created as a protection for all the innocent young children, "the future Nobel Prize winners”, from harmful nicotine influences. Another reason for the construction of the wall was also to abolish the desire of "senior coolness” that is being emitted during smoking and affects everyone around the smokers.

You may be wondering how much such a wall would cost. The magnificent wooden palisade together with installation was about $1000. However, this large expenditure amounted to nothing. The seniors still smoke on the schoolyard right in front of the senior building. The pollution of the schoolyard doesn't seem to end even with the placing of the wall.