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Coalition uses music to highlight the ill effects of tobacco
By By Jill Meier
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EmailNovember 24. 2009 6:00AM
Educating kids on the harms of tobacco use and secondhand smoke is taking a musical spin.
At least for a couple hours tonight, that is.
The Brandon Tobacco Prevention Coalition is organizing Cold Turkey Karaoke, an event designed to teach local youth about the ill effects of tobacco use and secondhand smoke. The event will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 24 at Celebration United Methodist Church in Brandon.
“Basically, it’s a karaoke contest,” said Gaylen Smith from Volunteers of America, who is overseeing the Coalition.
Cold Turkey Karaoke is the first big event the Brandon Tobacco Prevention Coalition has organized since receiving a $12,835 grant from the South Dakota Department of Human Services. The grant is to be spread over three years. Other events are in the works, Smith said, including a Did You Know forum next March, a Bag of Butts Day and The Great American Smokeout, which was Nov. 19. The Great American Smokeout is held annually to encourage Americans – of whom 45.8 million smoke – to quit smoking, or at least for that one day.
“This is a neat little thing to expose ourselves to the community, and it’s just the beginning of everything we’re going to do,” Smith said.
Heidi Small and her son, Troy, who are assisting with the event, signed on with the coalition for personal reasons.
“My grandfather died of emphysema, and Troy and I watched him totally suffocate,” Heidi said. “So Troy and I have a passion because kids are being targeted.”
The coalition’s mission is educate the Brandon Valley community of tobacco’s ill effects, to prevent initiation of tobacco use among youth, increase the number of people who will quit using tobacco and work to reduce secondhand smoke exposure.
“Typically, we show kids pictures of bad lungs and heart disease,” Smith said. “Children have seen this and it’s embedded in their minds.”
Instead of simply flashing unsightly photos of damaged lungs and hearts, the coalition is using a karaoke contest to get their message out. “The whole purpose of this event is to bring attention to youth and adults on the harms of tobacco,” Smith said.
To entice local youth to the event, a Wii Console is at stake as the top prize for the karaoke contest. Consolation prizes will also be awarded.
Smith will give a brief talk on the ill effects of tobacco and secondhand smoke, and each kid who attends the event will receive a bag filled with anti-smoking information and trinkets, Small said.
Tobacco companies target youth
Tobacco companies are targeting the youth by modifying their product to make it addictive to children.
“It’s a well-known fact that 85 percent of kids who smoke between the ages of 12-17 will become lifetime smokers, and at age 18 between 10 and 20 percent become lifetime smokers,” Smith said. “They’re after the youth.”
Smith said teenage smokers are also more likely to use alcohol and drugs.
“It’s not anything to play with,” he said. “It’s a big decision for these kids.”
According to stats compiled in the 2007 South Dakota Youth Risk Behavior Study Report, 55 percent (1,611) of 9-12th grade students surveyed from 23 South Dakota high schools had tried cigarettes, and 17 percent had smoked an entire cigarette prior to age 13. Each year, Smith said nearly 450,000 people die due to tobacco-related causes.
“So that’s what motivates me to do something,” he said.
IF YOU GO
What: Cold Turkey Karaoke
When: Tuesday, Nov. 24 – 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Where: Celebration United Methodist Church, 500 Pasque Flower Trail
Who: For students in grades 6-12
To register: Call 582-7995, 444-6324 or 582-7356
Sponsored by: Brandon Tobacco Prevention Coalition
At least for a couple hours tonight, that is.
The Brandon Tobacco Prevention Coalition is organizing Cold Turkey Karaoke, an event designed to teach local youth about the ill effects of tobacco use and secondhand smoke. The event will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 24 at Celebration United Methodist Church in Brandon.
“Basically, it’s a karaoke contest,” said Gaylen Smith from Volunteers of America, who is overseeing the Coalition.
Cold Turkey Karaoke is the first big event the Brandon Tobacco Prevention Coalition has organized since receiving a $12,835 grant from the South Dakota Department of Human Services. The grant is to be spread over three years. Other events are in the works, Smith said, including a Did You Know forum next March, a Bag of Butts Day and The Great American Smokeout, which was Nov. 19. The Great American Smokeout is held annually to encourage Americans – of whom 45.8 million smoke – to quit smoking, or at least for that one day.
“This is a neat little thing to expose ourselves to the community, and it’s just the beginning of everything we’re going to do,” Smith said.
Heidi Small and her son, Troy, who are assisting with the event, signed on with the coalition for personal reasons.
“My grandfather died of emphysema, and Troy and I watched him totally suffocate,” Heidi said. “So Troy and I have a passion because kids are being targeted.”
The coalition’s mission is educate the Brandon Valley community of tobacco’s ill effects, to prevent initiation of tobacco use among youth, increase the number of people who will quit using tobacco and work to reduce secondhand smoke exposure.
“Typically, we show kids pictures of bad lungs and heart disease,” Smith said. “Children have seen this and it’s embedded in their minds.”
Instead of simply flashing unsightly photos of damaged lungs and hearts, the coalition is using a karaoke contest to get their message out. “The whole purpose of this event is to bring attention to youth and adults on the harms of tobacco,” Smith said.
To entice local youth to the event, a Wii Console is at stake as the top prize for the karaoke contest. Consolation prizes will also be awarded.
Smith will give a brief talk on the ill effects of tobacco and secondhand smoke, and each kid who attends the event will receive a bag filled with anti-smoking information and trinkets, Small said.
Tobacco companies target youth
Tobacco companies are targeting the youth by modifying their product to make it addictive to children.
“It’s a well-known fact that 85 percent of kids who smoke between the ages of 12-17 will become lifetime smokers, and at age 18 between 10 and 20 percent become lifetime smokers,” Smith said. “They’re after the youth.”
Smith said teenage smokers are also more likely to use alcohol and drugs.
“It’s not anything to play with,” he said. “It’s a big decision for these kids.”
According to stats compiled in the 2007 South Dakota Youth Risk Behavior Study Report, 55 percent (1,611) of 9-12th grade students surveyed from 23 South Dakota high schools had tried cigarettes, and 17 percent had smoked an entire cigarette prior to age 13. Each year, Smith said nearly 450,000 people die due to tobacco-related causes.
“So that’s what motivates me to do something,” he said.
IF YOU GO
What: Cold Turkey Karaoke
When: Tuesday, Nov. 24 – 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Where: Celebration United Methodist Church, 500 Pasque Flower Trail
Who: For students in grades 6-12
To register: Call 582-7995, 444-6324 or 582-7356
Sponsored by: Brandon Tobacco Prevention Coalition
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The Brandon Tobacco Prevention Coalition's mission is to keep kids from ever lighting up. Tonight, they are hosting "Cold Turkey Karaoke," an event designed to teach local youth about the ill effects of tobacco use and secondhand smoke. Photo by Alica P. Thiele |  |
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