Students in Gloucestershire learn the ‘toxic truths’ about tobacco

01/12/2009

Students in schools across the county will get an insight into the real cost of a cigarette, thanks to an innovative new teaching resource launching this week.

‘Toxic tobacco truths’ goes beyond the usual focus on health issues to highlight the hard facts behind the tobacco industry.

The toolkit for teachers and youth workers developed by NHS Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire County Council, explores the wider issues surrounding tobacco, including the role of advertising, the manufacturing process, and its human and environmental cost.

The project - the first of its kind in the South West – was developed in response to requests from schools and youth clubs for help in reducing smoking uptake. Nearly 40% of pupils in Gloucestershire schools have tried smoking by Year 10. Of these, around 16% smoke 20 or more cigarettes a week.

Local students were involved in developing material to ensure that the content appealed to them and their peers.
Gail Black, Leading teacher for Gloucestershire County Council Children & Young People’s Health and Wellbeing Team said:

‘It was clear to us that the threat of diseases like lung cancer and heart disease later on in life has little impact on a teenagers’ decision to smoke. The sorts of messages which the young people did respond to were hard-hitting facts and life-stories, such as that of a child tobacco farmer in a developing country, or an investigation into counterfeit cigarette factories abroad.’

In one of the lessons, students calculate how much money they would save over a lifetime of not smoking, and in another, students explore guerrilla marketing campaigns to discourage smoking amongst their peers.
Welcoming the project, Kirsty Hulme-Jones, Smokefree Coordinator for NHS Gloucestershire said:

‘We know that the younger a person starts smoking, the more likely they will suffer an early death from a smoking-related disease. Far from the ‘don’t smoke, it’s bad for your health’ messages of the past, the toolkit challenges young people to find out for themselves the facts behind the tobacco industry’.

To support the resource pack, NHS Gloucestershire has also commissioned ‘Fags and Me- From First Drag to Final Fag’ - a touring theatre production following the journey of twenty-a-day Sarah as she makes the decision to quit. The play, produced by Fairgame theatre group will tour schools and youth clubs across the county from January through to April next year.