Thursday, December 5, 2002
Textbook stresses smoking dangers
By Rasheed Oluwa
Poughkeepsie Journal
If Jonas coughs seven times for every cigarette he smokes, how many times will he cough if he smokes an entire pack?
This is an example of the kind of questions posed to local middle schoolers in a new, anti-smoking textbook unveiled Tuesday at the Poughkeepsie Middle School.
The softcover book, ''Smoke Screens: From Tobacco Outrage to Media Activism,'' was designed to educate middle schoolers in Dutchess County about the dangers of smoking.
''The idea behind this project is that kids are one of the biggest consumers of tobacco products,'' said Dawn Rougeux, head of the Dutchess County Children's Services Council. ''They are bombarded by advertisements telling them smoking is cool and glamorous. This gives them an opportunity to deconstruct those ads.''
The book was produced by the Children's Media Project, a nonprofit organization in the City of Poughkeepsie that encourages youth participation in media and technology, through a $75,000 county grant.
The grant was administered by the Children's Health Initiative, a subcommittee of the Children Services Council.
During a brief speech in front of a group of Middle School students Tuesday, Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus spoke about his mother's experience with and eventual death from emphysema. She was a lifelong smoker, Steinhaus said.
''This will give you the information to make the right choice so one day your children won't have to sit next to you alongside a hospital bed and watch you get sick,'' he said.
Available to organizations
About 2,700 books were published and will be made available to middle schools and programs in the county upon request. A training session also will be made available to train teachers to use the book.
''Outrage only comes from knowledge,'' said Martha Dewing, managing editor of the textbook. ''Once the outrage is there, than you can try to make a change through activism.''
Dewing said much of the book was modeled after a workbook the Children's Media Project produced last year.
After receiving feedback from teachers about the first book, Dewing said the group decided to make the new book more appealing with colorful two-page spreads, graphics and critiques of alcohol and tobacco ads.
The spreads were designed to meet New York state standards for health, art,
English language arts and mathematics, Dewing said. The book
also features art and poetry from local students.
''It's almost put out for kids by kids, so the they will be able to get more out of it.'' said Margaret Anderson, an eighth-grade health teacher at the Poughkeepsie Middle School. ''The toughest part about teaching teenagers is that they feel they're invincible.''
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