‘With the passage of the Tobacco and Electronic Cigarette Law through Parliament, children under 17 will face a lifetime ban from buying cigarettes.’ That’s exactly how the BBC reported it.
There’s nothing to criticize about the decision. It’s necessary to prevent children from accessing cigarettes and their derivatives. But the news says “lifetime.” What does that mean?
‘For children under 17, lifelong’? Let’s just say we’re having trouble understanding the news.
Is it implying that children will never grow up? Is it suggesting that children under 17 will never grow up, that their age will remain fixed?
The BBC sometimes has strange news stories, but this is the strangest… We don’t know who wrote the article and who put it on the site, but it’s clear they’re not normal people…
The correct headline should have been: ‘With the new decision taken by the government, the sale of cigarettes to children under 17 is banned.’
Simple.