In a Puff of Smoke:
Taking Action

Learning about smoking and cancer is important. Doing something about smoking is just as important. In Leaving the Pack there are some ideas for you as an individual on how to stop smoking if you are already a smoker. In this activity, you can find ways to influence other students, especially those younger than you.

In most schools, as well as in many families, younger children look up to older brothers and sisters. What can you do to prevent younger children from smoking or to encourage them to stop? This activity is about taking action. It's about putting what you've learned to use in preventing lung cancer. Think of yourself as a persuader. What can you do in your school and community to help other students stop smoking or to keep them from starting? Choose a project from the list below. Each has as its objective keeping peers or younger students from smoking or to help them stop if they are smokers.

Below are suggestions for the kind of information to use and ways of presenting this information to other students. Choose content and methods of presentation appropriate to the age of the student you have selected. Talk to your classmates, teachers, parents, and friends to create even more ideas.

Content

What is the incidence of teenage smoking?

How do my lungs work?

Useful link: Save Your Breath, America! — from the National Lung Health Education Program.

What are the health risks of smoking?

What is the Great American Smokeout and how can I participate?

How does cigarette advertising promote smoking?

What effect does smoking have on my lungs?

What substances are in cigarettes and cigarette smoke?

Useful link:What Gets in Your Lungs

How can I quit smoking?

What are some smoking issues for females?

Useful link: Facts on Women and Tobacco — from the American Lung Association of Washington.

What is the Surgeon General's Report of 1964?

Useful link: The Surgeon General's Report

What are the issues in the recent controversies surrounding tobacco companies and the states?

What is the role of the American Cancer Society? National Cancer Institute? American Lung Association?