Educators

KEEP OKLAHOMA’S YOUTH TOBACCO FREE

Youth are three times more sensitive to tobacco advertising than adults. So, it’s clear the tobacco marketers have their attention. As an educator, so do you.

Preventing youth from beginning any tobacco use starts with a tobacco-free atmosphere throughout the school system and continues with classroom education.

Tobacco free schools create a powerful environment for promoting tobacco free norms, including:

• providing positive adult role models for students,
• supporting existing lessons taught in the classroom,
• creating a healthier environment for staff, students and the community by eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke.

Encourage discussion among students about how tobacco has affected their family or friends. Hearing real-life accounts of smoking-related risks can be extremely effective in keeping our youth tobacco free.

Key Principles for Effective 24/7 Tobacco-Free School Policies

• Prohibit tobacco use at all school facilities and events.
• Inform the community about the upcoming policy change and emphasize the benefits of the new policy.
• Prominently post tobacco free signs throughout the district.
• Make the public aware of the new policy by making announcements at all events.
• Encourage and help students and staff to quit using tobacco.
• Provide developmentally appropriate instruction in grades k-12 that addresses the social and psychological cause of tobacco use.

OKLAHOMA STATS

• High school students who smoke 26.5% (54,400)
• Male high school students using smokeless tobacco 23.0%
• Kids (under 18) who become new daily smokers each year 10,400
• Kids exposed to secondhand smoke at home 216,000
• Packs of cigarettes bought or smoked by kids each year 13.6 million
• Kids under 18 in Oklahoma who will ultimately die prematurely from smoking 90,800