Grade Seven tobacco prevention resource launched

Elizabeth Marshall, Minister of Health and Community Services, and Tom Hedderson, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Education, together with the provincial Teen Tobacco Team (TTT), today launched a smoking prevention education resource for use with grade seven students throughout the province. The resource was launched in recognition of National Non-Smoking Week, January 18 - 24, 2004.

The Grade Seven Tobacco Prevention Resource Kit will support young people in making healthy decisions. The project was developed, designed and produced by the Teen Tobacco Team, in collaboration with the departments of Health and Community Services and Education. Team members identified, as a priority, the need to target junior high students, particularly in grade seven, with smoking prevention messages.

"Increasing the proportion of non-smokers in our population is a key goal of our tobacco reduction strategy, particularly among our young people," said Minister Marshall. "Engaging youth in tobacco control efforts is an effective means to address youth tobacco prevention and education. The Teen Tobacco Team is an excellent resource for government, both in providing advice from a youth perspective and assisting in the implementation of tobacco initiatives."

"When we discussed our plan for this year, we felt we needed to develop a project that provided teens, like us, with information to make healthy choices to stay smoke-free - it's not adults that start smoking, it's kids," said Ryan Stratton, a member of the Teen Tobacco Team.

Minister Marshall stated that while tobacco use among youth in our province is decreasing, as a means of improving health and well-being we still need to focus on eliminating the use of tobacco.

"The Department of Education is pleased to be a partner in this project and feel the resource kit will complement our comprehensive school health curriculum," said Mr. Hedderson. "Teachers will be able to use the resource to help students understand the health risks of tobacco and learn skills to deal with the peer pressure associated with smoking."

To appeal to youth, the resource kit features a student document that uses youth-friendly language and design to deliver the messages on the importance of staying smoke-free. It is linked with the outcomes of the grade seven curriculum and includes a teacher's guide that provides suggested learning and teaching activities.

The provincial Teen Tobacco Team (TTT) is an integral component of government's strategy to prevent and reduce youth smoking. The team's role is to advise government, through the Minister of Health and Community Services, on issues related to teen smoking, in particular, prevention and cessation initiatives.

Media contact:
           Carolyn Chaplin, Communications, Health and Community Services, (709) 729-1377

           Lynn Salter, Education, Communications, (709) 729-0048

2004 01 20                                     10:30 a.m.