 |
|
|
|
|
Teens help peers to stop smoking
By Michelle Alaimo
Fifteen years ago, many public high schools had a smoking section--the notorious area where students could go to light up between classes.
Today, after a nationwide push to educate teens and the general public on the ill-effects of the addiction, schools have abandoned the smoking section concept in favor of a healthier approach to teens and nicotine: cessation classes.
Thanks to a Tobacco Use and Prevention Grant from the state, the Fremont Union High School District funds an advocate position at each school--a counselor who helps students overcome their addiction to cigarettes.
Student advocate Kristen Popovich at Cupertino High School started a smoking cessation support group for students last October and said the response has been great.
Six to 12 students meet twice a week to share advice and become educated on how to quit or cut back on smoking.
"The biggest part of the group is for students to have someone else to connect with," Popovich said.
The connection seems to be working. Since the group started, Popovich said two of the members have quit smoking completely and others sometimes go three to four weeks without smoking.
She notes that quitting is hard and that most people quit nine times before dumping the habit for good.
Monta Vista High School student advocate Holly Copeland is all too familiar with the statistics and said that is why she started a peer education group three years ago.
The popular program consists of 35 students: smokers, non-smokers and those who have quit. They travel to elementary schools to educate fifth- and sixth-graders on the dangers of smoking.
Junior Yana Sokolova started smoking when she was 14. She said she joined the program two years ago after hearing about it from other students. She said she thinks the program is very effective because the information is coming from another student.
"When people at your own level speak to you, you tend to listen more," Sokolova said.
Senior Jessica Fieger agreed. "They pay more attention to us and are more attentive to what we say," Fieger said.
Copeland said she tries to send a balance of smokers, non-smokers and those who have quit to each class.
Copeland said the class is "probably the most effective activity that I have ever been involved with."
Many of the students in her program said they feel the same way and are working on turning the group into a formal school club to help get their message out to even more students.
|
|
|
|
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
