The Valley Breeze

Prevention Coalition: Given new skills, teens can resist smoking

WOONSOCKET - "Just say no" isn't cutting it anymore.

So the Woonsocket Prevention Coalition, along with the Northern Rhode Island YWCA, has a new advocacy group aimed at combatting tobacco use by the city's teens.

They're betting $30,000 in grant money that they can make a difference.

Though there has been evidence in the last 10 years that programs like DARE have little effect on students' resistance to drugs, alcohol and smoking, WPC Executive Director Lisa Carcifero said there is a big difference between the Youth Anti-Tobacco Advocacy Group (YATAG) and prevention programs of the past.

"The difference between DARE and our group is DARE is primarily focused on the schools, and mostly in the 5th grade," she said.

"There's no follow up there. The kids are getting this one-shot deal where they're getting the education, and they're just expected to 'say no' for the rest of their time in school. But the work we're doing is comprehensive and involves a set of strategies that combine learning resistance skills and advocacy."

The new program, established through federal and state grants totaling $30,000, strictly focuses on tobacco control.

Carcifero said the group will be targeting Woonsocket High School students, providing several facets of education and experiential learning to tackle "the tobacco problem."

The first process involves educating teenagers on not only the dangers of tobacco, but the ways in which the tobacco industry focuses on certain population groups.

Laura Thorbjornsen, tobacco control coordinator of the WPC, said in the future, she expects the group to be able to walk into local convenience stores and confront owners about the amount of tobacco-related advertising they place inside.

"Although smoking has gone down overall, we are still seeing elevated levels of smoking among our most vulnerable populations - our children, low income, high minority communities," Thorbjornsen said.

"Tobacco control advocates have always believed that the tobacco industry targets certain population groups with aggressive tobacco advertisements and promotions."

She referred to a quote from the 1999 TV documentary "Tobacco Wars," noting that industry quotes like "We don't smoke that s**t, we just sell it. We reserve the right to smoke for the young, the poor, the black and the stupid," just proves the point that tobacco companies target "less affluent communities," she says.

Thorbjornsen also pointed out that children tend to be more exposed to the advertisements because convenience stores are more in their price range.

The second half of the education focuses on putting resistance strategies and knowledge to use through advocacy and lobbying.

Nate Smith, youth enrichment program coordinator at the YWCA, said that section of the tobacco prevention strategy is an extension of a YWCA program called Young Voices, tweaked from a similar program implemented in Providence.

The program encourages youth to keep up on current events and use knowledge to engage in meaningful discussions.

"It gives kids leadership skills in general and offers them a manner of handling issues like tobacco use," Smith said. "It enables effective advocacy and helps them develop latent skills that they might not even know they had in the first place."

The goal of the advocacy group is to hone students' public speaking skills and prepare them so they are not intimidated when trying to address tobacco issues to vendors and public officials.

The project can be taken "well beyond the classroom," Smith said, and he hopes they apply those skills not only at the Statehouse, but also in college and job interviews.

The WPC is one of many groups across the nation that is zeroing in on tobacco use. Public reports note drug and alcohol prevention programs have taken a hit in recent years because of cuts in federal funding, forcing districts to become creative with prevention tactics in schools. Currently, Woonsocket does not have a DARE program in place, but there are efforts to bring it back, Thorbjornsen said.

YATAG is looking to accept 20 teenagers into its program. For more information, call Thorbjornsen at the WPC at 767-1416.

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