Child encourages smokers to quit
At the Old Mill School in Wall, school nurse Susan Peacock initiated a weeklong anti-smoking events where have been participated around 500 students.
“I think that at this age, it really excites them. It motivates them to get people they know to stop smoking,” said Peacock, who lives in Wall.
Recently, The American Cancer Society Thursday celebrated the 31st anniversary of the Great American Smokeout. Regarding this important event, different campaigns were initiated for encouraging people to quit smoking and to stop kids from starting.
Reading the anti-smoking messages, fifth-grader Ben Kane, one of 14 Old Mill students, said: “I think it’s good to do this because most of these kids have older siblings that do (smoke), and if they see them doing it, they’ll think it’s cool.”
Also, various funny and interesting dress-down days were organized. These days were planned to express the anti-smoking messages to all those who still don’t understand the crude reality about smoking. For example, the wearing of the shirts backward one day to “Turn Your Back on Tobacco,”, or wearing sweat clothes on another to show that “Living Tobacco-Free is No Sweat”, and donning crazy socks on Thursday in an effort to “Sock it to Tobacco.”
Ms. Susan Peacock said that the initial goal of these days was to make funny and not just lecturing to them.
Students liked those ideas and the information that was learned about dangers of smoking. Some of them brought the idea to practice at home all that they found out.
“You can do that in your own house. You can make a special day, like “Turn Your Back on Tobacco Day,’ “said fifth-grader Nick Roy, 10. “You can do that everywhere, not just in school.”
At Barnegat High School in 2000 was created a special program REBEL- Reaching Everyone By Exposing Lies. On Mondays, the group creates the anti-smoking banners.
The REBEL organization constitutes of a group of statewide teens that try to inform their peers about danger of smoking.
“If we can change one person’s mind about smoking, it would be well worth it in the end,” said DeCicco, a senior.
“We want other students to know how dangerous smoking can be.”
Members of the REBEL created a banner with photos of celebrities who have died from smoking-related diseases.
Also, the group invites the students to add their own photos of loved ones who have died from tobacco-related diseases.
On Thursday, every 72 seconds a bell of the REBELS rang, as a person dies every 72 seconds from a smoking-related disease.
“These kids want to warn their friends of the dangers of smoking,” said Susan Lamela, the district’s substance abuse coordinator.
“I think that is the thing that they want to do the most."
