I’m not smoking that
Let's try and see clearly through all the smoke
Epidemiological studies show a steady increase in number of teens start smoking cigarettes. In Italy, 18% of young people start smoking before the age of 15, and 38% are adolescent and often begin between the age of 15 and 17.
WALCE (Women Against Lung Cancer in Europe), in collaboration with Carthusia Publishing, has initiated the project named “I’m not smoking that – Let’s try and see clearly through all the smoke”, an information and awareness campaign on damages of smoking and on the healthy lifestyles, aimed at 10 year-old pupils, consisting of an educational kit for the class.
Video tutorial “I’m not smoking that” – English subtitle
“I’m not smoking that – Let’s try and see clearly through all the smoke”
Health, good nutrition and positive relationships are features that allow people to live a healthy lifestyle, and it is undeniable that smoking is the enemy of it. The Campaign has been made possible thanks to an educational grant of Incyte and it was sponsored by the Italian Institute of Health and the Piedmontese Institutions. The project was officially presented in Turin, and was created with the aim to help children to understand the world where they live and to learn more about the smoke of cigarette, one of the most current problem.
The battle against smoking is an opportunity to talk about issues close to young people and closely related to their daily lives: this campaign face the problem in a soft way, taking into account the sensitivity of every child, without creating any fears or alarmism, but suggesting the image of a healthy lifestyle.
As Prof Silvia Novello, the President of WALCE, said “We have chosen to address the campaign to 10 year-old pupils, because we think it is important to implement prevention and information measures on the damage caused by smoking and focusing the attention on children who live in their age of development, a phase during which learning is faster and more immediate. We would like to plant the seeds of good habits among children when they are still young and particularly receptive and able to set behaviours and approaches that then persist into adulthood”.
The school is a key reference point for children both from an educational point of view and in the orientating them to the most suitable lifestyles for their growth.
The text of the story consists of four tales, told by four kids with whom all the children could easily identified themselves. Inside the educational kit you could find:
- the big book for the class is the magic tool that helps teachers to capture children’s attention on issues not always connected to everyday experiences of their age but only with some of them.
- 24 notebooks: one per student with a dossier for parents to fill at home
- a guide for the teacher
The teacher guide collects elaborations on the issue, tips for relating with kids and their parents and some ideas on the activities to do in the classroom, as well as the instructions of using the Kit.
In Italy the Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among men and its incidence continues to increase among women. In 2008 in Italy were diagnosed 36,700 new cases of lung cancer and there were 32540 deaths for this disease. Because the most important risk factor for lung cancer is still represented by cigarette smoke and the only primary prevention of lung cancer is represented by an effective and comprehensive campaign against cigarette smoking, WALCE has strongly supported this Campaign, a campaign that through the educational information, and also entertaining and useful contents, aims to inform and promote attitudes to a healthy lifestyle and that therefore deviates the cigarette smoking habit.
ECPC Newsletter 25, October 2011 (pdf)↓