Walking around the NWU Potchefstroom campus it is hard to cut a corner without catching a whiff of cigarette smoke.
Smoking seems to have become a social culture around campus, especially in the hostels, where being social─ and smoking has become a common pastime.
Many have named the hostel to have been a catalyst for their smoking habit, as well as a reason to continue. Many hostel residents have a nonchalant attitude when it comes to smoking, deeming it a strictly socially-driven activity. Carmen Fourie, a second-year and resident at Heide, recalls taking her first drag when she was in her first year.
“It’s an easy means of socialising and makes people more open for conversation.”
Many hostel residents believe one needs to be able to gauge when smoking becomes a habit rather than a social comfort: “You should smoke consciously,” says Luke de Beer, a second-year student from Over de Voor.
Many agree that peer pressure plays a large role in smoking, especially among younger students. “Fitting in, in hostels,” says Pierre van Loggerenberg, who was in Excelsior, has become part of the collective consciousness, where smoking as a means to contribute to this ideology is granted as important. Though, not all agree; Eugene Roets, a second-year at Over de Voor is put off by the idea of smoking because of his father’s smoking habit and does not feel left out by not smoking with his friends at gatherings.
Ruan Jacobs, a hostel resident at Veritas agrees that smoking occurs more often during, “Study breaks due to time limits and accessibility.” Hannes du Plessis, also a resident in Veritas says it is easier to “stare into the distance,” and smoke, rather than talk, suggesting that smoking is a reason to come together, even without saying much.
Those who have smoked for a longer period of time have had time to let the tar, along with the consequences sink in. Pierre van Loggerenberg, who started smoking six years ago in Excelsior, in his first year, recalls the peer pressure he felt to start smoking. The desire for social acceptance drove him to start smoking with his roommate, who offered him his first cigarette. “Fitting in socially is not important, one realises over time,” he adds that the desire for young people to fit in, in hostels leads them to seek social acceptance, eventually leaning on smoking as a social “crutch.”
Though the smoking culture in hostels can be caused by peer pressure, the need to fit in or the attraction to stereotypes surrounding smoking, cigarettes seem to be a big part of the social glue in hostels.
