Empowering Youth to Fight
Against Tobacco
March 2008
Youth are vulnerable to
tobacco industry ploys
Young people are exposed to tens of thousands of tobacco ads
and promotions by the time they are 12 years old – the average age youth
begin using tobacco. The deluge of images on billboards, in store
displays, and on magazine pages has created a friendly familiarity with
tobacco. It has shaped a youth culture that views tobacco use as
glamorous, social, grown-up, and rebellious. The result: 45 Washington
youth start smoking every day, and one out of three of these new smokers
will die prematurely.
Helping youth fight
back
The Washington State Department of Health Tobacco Prevention and
Control Program (Tobacco Program) encourages youth to join the fight
against tobacco. The Tobacco Program and its partner organizations
support youth efforts to counter tobacco industry advertising, change
attitudes in their community about tobacco, and prevent tobacco use among
other young people. To increase the number of high school-aged youth
who are trained and taking action against tobacco use, the Tobacco
Program:
-
Encourages
the
formation of local tobacco prevention programs and supports youth
anti-tobacco action groups.
-
Helps existing local youth anti-tobacco
groups recruit new members.
-
Provides training, skill development, and
networking opportunities for youth and their adult advisors.
The Department of Health’s primary partners in
building youth partnerships are the American Cancer Society, the
American Lung Association of Washington, and GMMB. Each provides
valuable support to youth advocates.
American Lung Association of Washington –
Teens Against Tobacco Use
The American Lung Association discourages tobacco use
among children through a peer education program called Teens Against
Tobacco Use (T.A.T.U.). Adults are trained to teach teens about
the risks of tobacco use, refusal skills, deceptive practices of the
tobacco industry, youth advocacy, and presentation skills. Teens,
in turn, serve as positive role models and present this information to
younger kids through classroom presentations.
Teens are invited to participate on one of the
association’s regional councils. The association awards
mini-grants of up to $500 to local organizations and coalitions to carry
out youth tobacco prevention activities. For additional
information call 1-800-732-9339 or visit
www.alaw.org/tobacco_control.
American Cancer Society – Speak OUT!
The American Cancer Society helps youth leaders and their adult partners
build strong youth coalitions for tobacco prevention and advocacy by
providing training to new youth coalitions through the SpeakOUT! Youth
Initiative program. Workshops are held throughout the state where
participants receive a toolkit as well as information on how to apply
for mini-grants. Experienced teen advocates ages 14 to 18 wishing
to gain advanced skills should consider attending a SpeakOUT! Summer
Summit. These annual summits are open only to teens who have
participated in Camp SpeakOUT! or the SpeakOUT! Youth Initiative or
served with a youth coalition for two or more years. For
additional information, call 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit
www.cancer.org.
Youth Action Teams
Youth Action Teams (YATs) are anti-tobacco youth groups that work to
raise awareness of the dangers of tobacco and secondhand smoke, and
influence tobacco policy in their communities. Members of these
groups have been involved in T.A.T.U. and Speak OUT!, and are ready for
more intensive projects. The Tobacco Program supports the YAT
program by providing technical assistance and communications guidance to
these teams, via GMMB, a Seattle communications firm. For
additional information, contact GMMB at 206-352-8598.
Call to action
The Department of Health calls upon high school-aged youth to turn
creative thinking into action that will make a difference in their
neighborhoods, schools, and cities. It calls upon local tobacco
prevention programs to use the resources provided by this initiative to
recruit and involve youth in their efforts to prevent initiation and
reduce tobacco use in their communities. With the help of this
initiative, youth and adults working together can increase the number of
youth who disapprove of tobacco use, resent tobacco industry
manipulations, and encourage their peers and parents to quit.
A comprehensive
approach to fighting tobacco use
Research shows that tobacco prevention programs must conduct a
comprehensive set of strategies to be effective. The Washington
State Tobacco Prevention and Control Program provides services to help
people quit, conducts public awareness and media campaigns, supports local
programs in communities and schools, supports enforcement of policies to
keep kids from accessing tobacco products, and evaluates the effectiveness
of program activities.
Back to
Youth
* Links to external resources are provided as a public service for
educational purposes only. External links do not imply endorsement by the
Washington State Department of Health of any political, commercial,
promotional or other proprietary content that may be included in linked
Web sites.
Linked external Web pages are routinely monitored by the Department
for materials that advocate for political outcomes. If you find any
materials on a directly linked Web page that advocates for, or against,
any political candidates, ballot measures, or referendums, please
contact us immediately so that the link may be promptly removed. |
