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The Tobacco Toll |
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  Friday . Nov 21 |
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Updated: 10.9.01
Schools have a critical role to play in reducing youth smoking, but partnering with the tobacco industry is the wrong approach. The tobacco industry's real goal is not to reduce tobacco use among kids, but to improve the industry's image, cultivate local allies, create the illusion of change and avoid real solutions to the problem. At the same time that they're seeking to partner with schools, the tobacco companies are spending more than ever to market their deadly products, especially in ways effective at influencing kids. In addition, school partnerships with the tobacco industry send an inconsistent message to our children about tobacco use. These tobacco industry programs are ineffective at best and, if used in place of proven and effective programs, are counter-productive and damaging to real prevention efforts. Public health groups, including the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the American Medical Association, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, urge schools and other organizations not to accept money from or partner with tobacco companies. In this Special Report, you will find information about:
We hope you will join us in keeping our schools tobacco-free and off limits to Big Tobacco.
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n recent years, the nation's tobacco companies have engaged in a
massive public relations campaign to convince the public and policy makers that they have changed and now want to be part of the solution to the problem of youth smoking. A key part of this effort is to offer funding, materials and other assistance to schools and youth-serving organizations to implement so-called "youth anti-smoking programs."