OU instructor feels students will feel “disempowered” by university’s choice to start smoking ban.
By instituting a campus-wide smoking ban next semester, Ohio University is compelling its students to quit smoking, something it does not have the right to do.
Because of the size of OU’s campus, it will be necessary for a student to quit smoking to comply with the new policy. For example, students living in South Green dorms will have to walk all the way to Mill Street to smoke, which makes quitting the only realistic choice for compliance with the ban. This will be the university’s choice, not the students’.
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Choice is a fundamental right in America, one that isn’t given up easily. For example, prohibition didn’t work because Americans want the choice to drink. When a university compels its students to quit smoking, it may be encouraging a wise decision, but it is removing a right that Americans hold dear. This not only restricts personal rights, it also goes against one of OU’s key goals: fostering a critical and engaged citizenry. If OU compels its students to quit smoking, the students will not only feel disempowered, they will lose an opportunity to learn how to make responsible choices for themselves.
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The wisest course of action for students would clearly be to stop smoking. However, the wisest decision for the university might be to allow the students to make that choice themselves.
Kyle Butler is an instructor at Ohio University.
