YOUNGSTOWN Junior high-schoolers teach 4th-graders perils of smoking

By AMY HOUSELY
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A half-dozen junior high school pupils have taken a stand against tobacco, and they've been delivering that message to a group of fourth-graders.
The new anti-smoking program, TEACH, which stands for Teen Educators Affecting Children's Health, was created by the Youth for Justice Team at Volney Rogers Junior High School on the city's West Side.
Six eighth-graders, who take part in the program on an extracurricular basis, devised the six-session program under the tutelage of teacher Penny Wells.
The program aims to prevent children from starting to smoke, rather than trying to get them to quit. Lessons include the dangers of smoking, reasons people begin smoking and how to say "no."
The pupils recently completed delivering the program to a group of fourth-graders at Kirkmere Elementary School.
Fourth-grader Krystal Adams said she learned "smoking cigarettes is bad and it can cause a lot of diseases."
For the eighth-graders, the program goes beyond delivering an anti-smoking message, Wells said.
"It's citizenship in action," she said.
Funding
In April, the TEACH team won a $10,000 grant from Teen HIP (Helping Influence People) to implement the program. Teen HIP is part of Lorillard Tobacco Co.'s voluntary Youth Smoking Prevention Program.
Ten grants were given out nationwide to pupils ages 12 to 18 to create or support an existing program that encourages their peers to remain smoke-free.
The local program was launched this spring in one fourth-grade classroom at Kirkmere. Next year, the Volney team plans to go to all fourth-grade classes at both Kirkmere and West elementary schools, which feed into Volney.
The Volney pupils said they decided to target fourth-graders because the children are young enough to be influenced but old enough to understand the smoking issue.
Volney eighth-grader Ashley Koval said she participates in the program because she felt that being taught by someone closer to their own age would have more of an impact on the fourth-graders.
"I thought that I could influence the students," she said.
The sessions were spread out over two weeks. In the end, all of the fourth-grade pupils received certificates, gift bags and T-shirts.
ahousley@vindy.com