Avoiding Tobacco is Cool
A letter written by a 10 year old
Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids
Dear Sir or Madam,
I was wondering what I could do to help. I have some ideas of my own. My first idea was to paint over all the cigarette billboards. Another idea is suggest new laws to the government like anyone under 30 caught with a cigarette is arrested. Then they would spend 48 hours in jail. Or anyone under 30 caught smoking spend a week in jail.
I'm ten years old and I know what it feels like to smoke, I used to. I know what you're thinking and I am ashamed at myself. After one summer I was sick and tired of spraying myself with a can of Lysol everyday. That's when I told and I have had grief from the kids who smoked with me. I told on them too. After that everything went uphill except for the grief. I've had my bike stolen and everything you can imagine happen to me. But I was a leader and I still am. The neighborhood kids respect that and ever since, I've had a lot of friends.
Discussion Questions
1. What would you tell a young person who uses smokeless tobacco because he/she thinks
it is safer than smoking cigarettes?
2. Most youth don't understand that nicotine in tobacco is as addictive as cocaine,
heroin, or
alcohol. List six physical reactions which occur when specialized
receptors signal the
presence of nicotine. Describe the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.
3. Each day, more than 3,000 young people across the United States become daily
smokers.
Discuss strategies the family, school, and community can adopt to
reduce the likelihood that
children and youth will be tobacco users (reflect the
recommendations of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention).
4. The American Cancer Society states that three out of four youth smokers have tried
to quit
and failed. What tips would you give to a young person who is
trying to quit smoking
cigarettes?
Internet links : Information from the following five links will assist
you in responding to the above questions.
MedlinePlus
Medical Encyclopedia: Nicotine withdrawal
http://www.mintsnuff.com/gamblingwithyourhealth.htm
How To Quit Smoking...And Quit
For Keeps
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00026213.htm
http://www.nida.nih.gov/ResearchReports/Nicotine/Nicotine.html
(click on "How tobacco delivers its effect" and "......medical
consequences.")
http://teens.drugabuse.gov/drnida/drnida_nic1.asp
Page developed by Heather Hilley as part of her honor's project in school health