The beginning of another school year is getting closer. Each year students start new classes, school activities, and, for some, bad habits like smoking. It is estimated that as many as 90 percent of all smokers start before the age of 18.
To help deter smoking in teenagers, the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center is offering schools a tool to help prevent adolescents from acquiring a smoking addiction. Joan Felkner, director of the Holden Cancer Information Service, talks about the program and how schools can participate:
What is the tool Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center is offering schools to help prevent students from starting a smoking habit?
The tool we developed is called the Iowa Smoking Teens. We have larger than life cutouts of the teens we take to our outreach events. We now have posters to distribute to Iowa schools and other agencies.
What prompted the development of the smoking teen poster?
We know people learn in different ways. Some people absorb information they hear or read; while some people learn better when they have a visual or a picture. The Iowa Smoking Teens have images of organs that have been affected by cigarette smoke to show the changes that cigarette smoke can make in the body.
What does the poster show/tell students about the dangers of smoking?
We concentrated most on the cancers and then on the changes in physical appearance caused by smoking, showing the body-wide effect. Some people think only the lungs are affected by smoking but we talk body-wide about the effects of smoking.
What is the intended goal this poster will accomplish by having it placed in schools?
We're hoping it will raise awareness among people that smoking affects your entire body, especially about some of the different cancers that can develop because of smoking.
Is the poster being offered to all levels of education or just high schools?
No, the poster is designed for anyone starting at the junior high age level and older; so we use it often with adults, as well.
Does the school need to be located in the state of Iowa to order a poster?
No, the poster is free to Iowa schools and other nonprofit organizations. Out of state orders—we do have a small charge for.
Is there a limit to the number of posters each school can request?
We are able to provide each school with up to five posters.
Are schools the only organization that can request a poster?
We will consider every request. We've had many police departments, 4-H clubs; those kinds of organizations request them, as well.
How can a poster be requested?
Call the Cancer Information Service at 800-237-1225. Our local number in Iowa City/Coralville is 356-3000. Our e-mail address is cancer-information@uiowa.edu. |
