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Midland students create anti-tobacco messages

July 03, 2009 11:07

Local high school students have done their part to encourage classmates to be tobacco free.
Students from the Learning Centre, St. Theresa’s High School, Midland Secondary School, the Alternative Learning Program and the Georgian Bay Native Friendship Centre’s Seventh Fire Education Centre received a $1,000 grant from the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and the Ministry of Health Promotion, which was used to expose the dangers of tobacco use and marketing ploys to youth.
Their efforts resulted in a 30-minute video written, filmed and edited by students at the Midland Learning Centre. The video is described as an “entertaining and informative mix of testimonials, stories of people who have been hooked and wish they had never started smoking, people suffering the health effects of tobacco use, along with messages to kids to stay away from smoking.”
“We were amazed when we saw what they had done,” public health nurse Nancy Bell stated in a press release. “It was first-rate and really showcased the talents and creativity of the students while getting a powerful message across.”
The video, which was presented to Grade 9 and 10 classes at MSS, will be used as a teaching tool by staff at the health unit.
Students at St. Theresa’s also used video to get their message across during a film festival held recently at the Galaxy Theatre.
Despite its success, the ministry has opted to cancel the program, noted Bell.
“The grant program is based on research that shows students want the support of their friends and peers to help develop the confidence to choose a tobacco-free lifestyle,” she said, adding the findings were reinforced in a 2005 survey of local high school students.

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