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Teens talk about dangers of smoking
By Scott Bandle - published in the North County Journal on November 13, 2007.
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Scott Bandle photo - Trinity students look over an exhibit of diseased lungs that they use in their anti-smoking lectures to area elementary schools. Pictured are (from left) sophomore Julia Leonard, senior Kevyn Gandaho, Erin Jenkins of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and senior Maeve O'Neill. |
The cost of one pack of cigarettes a day can add up to more than $1,200 a year. That money could be spent on better things, like iPods, video games or scooters.
That's one of the messages Trinity Catholic High School students are sharing with elementary school students as part of the Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU) program from the American Lung Association.
"We want to show the kids not only the harmful effects of smoking," said Erin Jenkins, prevention specialist with the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. "People spend a lot of money on tobacco products that could be spent somewhere else."
TATU, a peer education program, stems from the concept that elementary-age children sometimes listen to people closer to their own age than they do to adults. The goal by the end of the year is to reach 10,000 elementary students in 150 St. Louis-area schools. Trinity is one of a few high schools participating in the program.
Health is the program's main focus. One demonstration shows two sets of lungs, one healthy and the other blackened by disease. Another is a year's worth of cigarette tar floating in a glass jar.
"These demonstrations really impress the elementary kids, especially the lungs," Jenkins said.
They also impress some of the Trinity students who participate in the program.
"I didn't know a lot of this stuff before we started the program," said sophomore Julia Leonard, 15. "I didn't know how shocking it was."
Program organizers also want to take away any sense of peer pressure to start smoking. The magic number is 22, Jenkins said.
"Only 22 percent of teenagers smoke cigarettes," she said. "We want the kids who don't smoke to know that they are in the majority. A lot of kids think it's cool to smoke, but most don't."
All of the Trinity volunteers have friends who smoke. As a rule, the smokers respect their decision not to smoke.
"They know how we feel about it, and they don't push it," said senior Maeve O'Neill, 17.
Many teenagers have part-time jobs, which provides them with money to buy cigarettes, O'Neill said.
Some of the elementary children's parents are smokers. The kids see their parents smoke and believe that "they still look fine," Jenkins said.
"We tell them that smoking affects everyone differently," she said. "Somebody who smokes may look OK, but they will feel the effects."
The program emphasizes the immediate effects of smoking, such as coughing and shortness of breath. Many preteens and teenagers don't think of what will happen 20 to 30 years down the road, when the effects become cumulative.
As a rule, the students are open to the message, said senior Kevyn Gandaho.
"Most of them are good about it," he said. "They're willing to listen to us."
Reach Scott Bandle at sbandle@yourjournal.com.
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The preceding article was posted with permission from the North County Journal.
More information about NCADA's TATU program can be found on the Peer Programs page in our Prevention Services section.
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