It's My Life . Body . Smoking

Smoking: What You Can Do

Want to spread the word about the dangers of smoking? There's a lot you can do! Here are some ideas to get you started:

If you'd like to make your own PSA, check with the art and/or film department at your local community college. They may offer a class you can take. If not, check your local bookstore for books about animation. If you've got a story, all you need to learn is how to turn it into a cartoon.
Make your own anti-smoking cartoon by drawing pictures in a "flipbook": each picture goes on one page of a small notebook, so that when you flip through the pages real fast, the pictures move.
To get involved with an anti-smoking campaign in your area, have your parents contact one of the following organizations:
- Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids - (800) 284-KIDS
- American Lung Association - (800) LUNG-USA
- American Cancer Society - (800) ACS-2345
If you have a loved one who wants to quit smoking, tell them about this Web site for some great tips:
www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit/canquit.htm
Organize a "Kick Butts Day" event in your area! This annual event, which happens every spring, encourages kids to get involved with the fight against tobacco. For information on how to create your own event, visit www.kickbuttsday.org.
Promise that you'll never smoke by signing a pledge stating that you will be tobacco-free. Get family members and people in your community to join you.
Take note of tobacco advertisements posted on store windows in your community. Write letters to those stores or ask your parents to speak to them about the problems caused by the tobacco industry. Maybe they'll take them down and save someone from choosing to smoke.
Contact local businesses and restaurants in your area that allow smoking and ask them to make their establishments smoke-free.
Write opinion pieces in your local paper or school newspaper.
Design your own anti-smoking t-shirt.
Paint posters to encourage kids not to smoke. With your teacher's permission, hang them in classrooms, the school library and the cafeteria.
Ask your school to have an anti-smoking assembly program or volunteer to speak to other students about the facts that you've learned about smoking.
Start an anti-smoking club with other kids at school.
If you see someone selling cigarettes to a person under the age of 18, report it to 1-888-FDA-4KIDS (part of the Food and Drug Administration).
The Smokescreen Action Network has a list of even more things you can do and organizations you can write to in your area. Go to www.smokefreeair.org for more information.

Here are some Web sites where you can get extra info about smoking prevention:

www.cdc.gov/tobacco/tips4youth.htm
Contains links to a ton of information on smoking prevention for kids and teens. Includes facts and ways to get involved in the fight against tobacco.

Foundation for a Smoke-Free America
www.notobacco.org
Information on Foundation for a Smoke-Free America, plus tips and resources for kids and teens.