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Photo contest gets teens to BLAST smoking

Teens across the province are being encouraged by a provincial health advocacy organization to get creative in the fight against tobacco use.

Teens across the province are being encouraged by a provincial health advocacy organization to get creative in the fight against tobacco use.

For the last few weeks, Alberta students in grades 7 to 9 have submitted their own pictures to the Lung Association of Alberta and the Northwest Territories for a contest called the BLAST Smoking for Good Photo Contest. According to organizers, interest in the contest is very high with 16,000 visits to the website and 83 entries that have come in from all across the province. So far, however, none are from St. Albert.

BLAST, or Building Leadership for Action in Schools Today, is a 14-year-old program geared towards junior high school students. It challenges youth to think critically about tobacco including its use, the social and health effects of it and the tobacco industry itself. In doing so, it hopes to empower students to become leaders and advocates in their schools and communities.

This is the first year for the program’s Smoking for Good Photo Contest. It works by showcasing the photo submissions on the website and having people vote on them in a race for popularity. There are seven categories, all revolving around the goal of demonstrating the many negative aspects of tobacco and smoking. Public involvement is encouraged with online voting open to all Alberta residents through www.blastsmokingforgood.ca.

Winning photos in each category will receive up to $500 with the schools of the winning photographers eligible for Youth Action Grants of up to $5,000. Deadline for contest entries is Saturday, Oct. 30.

Cheryl Tonn, health initiatives co-ordinator, is really pleased with the interest so far.

“It’s getting quite big. People are very interested in the program. The pictures are phenomenal,” she said.

Tonn added that because of the growing popularity of Internet communication, this contest is geared towards accessibility and interfaces with Facebook and Twitter.

“All our kids are getting into social media. It means a lot more when we hit them when they’re at home. They’re all very much visually inclined.”

She believes that kids have a lot of political power but the lack of response from St. Albert does disconcert her.

“I think this is another way of making them aware. Kids are our best advocates as far as smoking prevention is concerned. It means a whole lot more to government officials when our students come to them and says, ‘We don’t want smoking in the workplace. We don’t want smoking in the restaurants’ and so forth. They’re a big push behind smoking prevention.”

Survey data reveals that smoking rates among youth aged 15 to 24 at 18 per cent, with a much higher percentage of the population being exposed to second-hand smoke regularly through family and friends. It is estimated that 3,000 people in the province die every year because of tobacco use and exposure.

To learn more about tobacco and its effects, or to find out about the Lung Association and its other programs, call 780-488-6819 or visit www.ab.lung.ca.


Scott Hayes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

About the Author: Scott Hayes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Ecology and Environment Reporter at the Fitzhugh Newspaper since July 2022 under Local Journalism Initiative funding provided by News Media Canada.
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