StepUpNC.com - Staying Smoke Free

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What You Can Do

So... you want to get involved in tobacco control activism but don't know how? Here's some things that YOU, yes YOU can do in your community!

Get involved: Join the UJIMA African American Youth Initiative, and work with other youth to advocate for a smoke-free community!

Join Up!: Join a teen anti-tobacco group in your community like SWAT, WHAT, or TATU. Get involved!

Get Something Started: If there's no anti-tobacco youth groups in your area, start a teen anti-tobacco group in your school, church, or community. Invite other kids to come. (And as one teen tells us... "Make sure there is food... because kids will come if there is food.")

Talk It Up: Talk to people - friends, family, strangers - young and old... educate them about the dangers of tobacco (and benefits of staying smoke free), try to convince them to quit (or never to start) smoking.

Weekly Announcements: Ask your principal if you can make weekly announcements over the school intercom about tobacco related issues (like tobacco in the news, prevention messages, and upcoming events).

STEP UP and Use Your Talent: Put your talents to work using music, rap, drama, or dance to produce your own tobacco prevention messages and presentations to educate others about tobacco use. And we'd love to see what you can do too! For instance, form a neighborhood Step Group (you could call it "Stepping Out Tobacco" or "Step Up Against Tobacco Use"), and invite other youth to join!

Merchant Education: Visit local stores in your community to talk with owners and store clerks about the NC youth access laws. Anyone under 18 years old is too young to buy tobacco products. Clerks should check ID's to make sure they are not selling tobacco to minors.

Teen Teaching: Develop a presentation that your youth organization can present to younger children about the dangers of tobacco use. be creative! You can reach younger children at elementary schools, church groups, etc.

Operation Storefront: Stop in at local convenience stores, pharmacies, and grocery stores that sell tobacco products. Make a list of the different locations you see tobacco ads - on the front store window, at the counter, etc. Are they located near candy or other products that young people might buy? How many ads do you see in each store? Write down the number of stores you visit, the number of ads you see, and their locations. Are there a lot of ads in stores in your neighborhood? Share your results with the media, decision makers (like the City Council and Board of Health), or other groups in your community. NOTE: you can combine this activity with merchant education.

Community Education: Just as you can educate younger children about tobacco, you can also come up with presentations that reach adults. You could provide information on health problems related to tobacco use and advertising in your community.

Newsletter or Flyers: Does your youth organization have a newsletter that is produced to let others know what you're doing? If you don't, you could put your skills to work to develop a short newsletter or bulletin to promote your group's activities and to educate the community members on issues that are important to your group. Your team could also make a one-page flyer or fact sheet to promote tobacco prevention and health messages.

Advocate for School or Community Policies: Some examples might be to develop a campaign to...
    - Have your local mall become smoke free.
    - Stop students from smoking in the bathrooms at school.
    - Stop students from smoking around entrances/exits to the school where people have to walk by.
    - Call for 100% tobacco-free schools.

Participate: Participate in the Great American Smokeout (GAS) in November, Minority Cancer Awareness Week in April, Kick Butts Day on April 4, and World No Tobacco Day on May 31. Some things you could do are:
    - Develop and place public service announcements on local radio stations the day of the event.
    - Be a support buddy to someone who quits smoking on the day of the Smokeout.
    - Ask a teacher and students at your school if they would like to participate in activities for the event (i.e. the American Cancer Society's GAS activity called "Smokescream").
    - Work with local TV and radio stations to do a news story on the event.

Post Posters: Have a poster contest - or just create your own anti-youth tobacco use posters and post them in your neighborhood, school, library, and anywhere else they'll let you.

T-Shirts: Design your own anti-tobacco t-shirts (contact companies like Hanes to see if you can get plain T-shirts donated or at a discount).

Tobacco Education Lock-In: have a lock-in with local youth members from different schools or churches.

Hit the Mall: Plan display booths in local malls and festivals.

Greeting Cards: During the holiday season, you can send information about the harmful effects of tobacco products in holiday greeting cards. You can place anti-tobacco stickers on the outside of the envelope (free from your local American Cancer Society - "Tobacco Is A Drug Too" - see the Tobacco Control Resources page for contact info).

Gifts: When sending or exchanging gifts for holidays or birthdays, place any information that shares the harmful effects of tobacco products in the gift's box.

Anti-tobacco Photography Contest: Have a photo contest - ask people to take photos of people smoking, tobacco advertisements in stores, and anything else that illustrates your cause, and tell them to create a slogan or title for their photo. Judge and display all the photos at your local library, school, or community organization.

Have you got more ideas for the What YOU Can Do page? Send them to us, and we'll add them to the list! Email us at youcando@ncmail.net.

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