By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Smoking cigarettes as a child isn't cool, and putting tobacco ads where young people can easily see them isn't either. That's what a team of 25 local teenagers aims to convince Sunnyvale officials and merchants.
On behalf of the group, Thy Duong and Pavitra Chollate attended the City Council meeting on March 19 and requested that the council pass a resolution asking local merchants to voluntarily reduce tobacco advertising in their stores.
The council voted to place the item early on the April 2 agenda because the girls had waited until 11:45 p.m. last Tuesday to address the council.
The students, from Fremont and Homestead high schools, are concerned that smoking rates increased by nearly 10 percent in Santa Clara County between 1990 and 1993, while the tobacco industry continued to spend $1 million per day marketing tobacco in California, said Trish Jensen, project coordinator for Tobacco Ads Snare Kids of Santa Clara County.
Jensen said the teenagers received training from the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce to learn how to communicate their message to business owners. The group conducted a survey in January, which showed that Sunnyvale stores selling tobacco average 33 tobacco ads per store, an average higher than those for Santa Clara County, the Bay Area and the state of California.
The teenagers are focusing on reducing tobacco advertising placed in stores near candy displays and below countertops, areas where children are most likely to see the messages.
Duong, a senior at Fremont High School, said reducing tobacco ads in stores is important and the group's effort is helping its members to learn youth leadership skills.
"My grandfather is a heavy smoker, and he always said it keeps him healthy. I wanted to learn more about smoking and what it does to the lungs," said Duong, adding that her grandfather lives with her uncle who has four young children.
She said young kids can be harmed by secondhand smoke.
Chollate, a sophomore at Homestead High School, added that she doesn't want to see young children, including her brother and two younger sisters, begin to smoke.
"I also wanted to make a difference. We want to help other kids to learn that smoking isn't cool," she said.
Duong said that some kids at her school thought they looked cool holding a cigarette. Jensen added that teens may begin smoking because of peer pressure, insecurity or low self-esteem.
The group meets weekly to strategize their next moves. Some stores have already volunteered to reduce or move their tobacco advertising, Duong said.
Some business owners receive payment from the tobacco industry for displaying their advertisements and promoting their materials, which may make the girls' mission more difficult, Jensen said.
The teens were organized by TASK Santa Clara County, a Stanford University project funded by the Tobacco Tax Health Protection Act of 1988.
They have surveyed tobacco retailers, participated in police stings to stop illegal cigarette sales to minors, corresponded with and visited merchants, and gathered petitions. Their aim is the reduction of tobacco advertising and protection of children.
The team will pass out copies of the city's resolution, if passed, to merchants and conduct a survey to measure the results.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, March 27, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.