Kick Butts Day
Wednesday, March 24, is national Kick Butts day; this is a day of activism that empowers youth to take action against tobacco use. I am a member of a group called T.A.T.U.(Teens Against Tobacco Use) which is a group of teens from Delaware Valley High School who work to educate the younger students in elementary school about the harmful effects of smoking, second hand smoke, third hand smoke, and smokeless tobacco. On Kick Butts day we plan to not only educate the elementary students, but any student who wishes to listen. To do this we have many things planned. We will be bringing around a carbon dioxide machine during all high school lunches. This machine allows the students to see how much carbon dioxide (a result of inhaling cigarette smoke) is in their body. Many students who are only exposed to second hand smoke show up as a light smoker. We will be placing a body bag full of money in the high school to represent the number of people who die each year from tobacco use. We will also be airing the commercial we entered into the PSA contest. This commercial brings awareness to big tobacco companies and their ability to get young kids addicted to tobacco products. We will also be sending one of our members over to the Delaware Valley Elementary School dressed in the Stinky Ciggy costume to answer any questions about tobacco that the students might have. We’ve also polled all of the 11/12 high school students and asked them to respond to the following: currently smoking, smoked and quit and never smoked. The results will be visually displayed by three different colored chains. The chains will be hung in the 11/12 cafeteria on Kick Butts Day. Lastly, we wrote letters to our state representatives expressing our concern over the proposed $16.1 million reduction in tobacco funding for this and the next fiscal year. Advocating the harmful effects of tobacco products is what we do so here are some facts that will hopefully change the minds of those who currently smoke and prevent those who ever thought about picking up a cigarette. Tobacco use kills more than 400,000 people each year in the United States, or more than the total number killed by AIDS, alcohol, motor vehicles, homicide, illegal drugs, and suicide combined. Even if the number of smoking related deaths were cut in half, smoking would still kill more people than all of these other causes. Smoking does not just harm the smoker. According to the CDC, nearly 50,000 Americans die each year from lung cancer and heart disease because of secondhand smoke exposure. At least 19 different types of cancer-causing substances, called nitrosamines, are found in tobacco products. Cigarettes can contain more than 4,000 ingredients, which, when burned, can also produce over 200 compound’ chemicals. Many of these compounds’ have been linked to lung damage. Scientists claim the average smoker will lose 14 years of their life due to smoking. Join our fight against tobacco by “kicking the habit” or by helping your loved ones to quit this deadly addiction. Taylor Gilpin, T.A.T.U. member Delaware Valley High School