Contributed by Noel Crowley Bell
Covid-19. It’s a fact of life that’s truly hard to escape. In the news, on our social media feeds, evident in the sparse traffic along our roads and the face masks that are gaining prominence as we move about undertaking our essential activities. For the record, this article is not directly about Covid-19. It is how a significant, serious respiratory virus disrupted a specific opportunity for activism by motivated local students while simultaneously highlighting the importance of their now cancelled event.
This article is to congratulate the hard work done by Burchell High Wellness Ambassadors. The Wellness Ambassadors are 9-12 graders who have chosen to invest in themselves and their fellow students by engaging in extracurricular activities to support the overall health and wellness of their peers and their school. I had the privilege of meeting with a select group of these students who, among other activities, have been amazing in the work they’ve undertaken to educate their peers on the importance of not using tobacco.
While traditional commercial tobacco use has been steadily declining in recent years; due in part to information and education with youth; the rise and use of e-cigarettes by youth has risen dramatically. In 2017 10% of high school students in Alaska smoked cigarettes while 15.7% used e-cigarettes. Compare this only 3.5% of adults in Alaska use e-cigarettes.1 This, along with other facts that point to ever increasing youth tobacco use of e-cigarettes, highlight the value of having youth leaders who are able to provide information about the importance of good health by sharing facts about the dangers tobacco use presents with their peers.
Burchell students did just that. They began by investing time working with Kris Green, Youth Tobacco Specialist of Cook Inlet tribal Council. Kris worked with students on the health risks associated with tobacco use and coached them to pilot a peer to peer tobacco curriculum they then taught to incoming Burchell 9th graders in the fall. School administrators like Jody Soeder, RN, their school nurse assisted in this, giving the students great support along with Principal Lincoln and Vice Principal Hietela.
In addition to this important work, the Wellness Ambassadors found time to organize and be involved in the National day of Youth Counter Tobacco Advocacy; Taking Down Tobacco, (formerly known as Kick Butts Day). 2020 marks year 25 for this day of youth led activism. Taking Down Tobacco is a project of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, as stated on their website, is “the leading advocacy organization working to reduce tobacco and its deadly consequences in the United States and around the world”.2 One important way this work is accomplished is through education and information provided to youth leadership in the U.S. and worldwide culminating in the annual day of advocacy each March 18.
Prior to Covid-19 health mandates the Wellness Ambassadors launched a call for entries from fellow students throughout the Mat-Su School District. They asked students to share the reason(s) why they believe they can #BeTheFirst tobacco free generation by Taking Down Tobacco. Winners were chosen and postcards printed in anticipation of engaging in outreach events to other schools on March 18. Wellness Ambassadors were excited to share their knowledge and information with other students on that day, making sure other youth are aware of the dangers of tobacco use and how adolescents are most at risk. This is a short list of what they would have shared:
Nearly 9 out of 10 cigarette smokers first try cigarette smoking by age 18, and 98% first try smoking by age 26. Each day in the U.S. about 1,600 youth under 18 years of age smoke their first cigarette and nearly 200 youth under 18 years of age become daily cigarette smokers. In 2018, 67% of high school students and 49% of middle school students who used tobacco products in the past 30 days reported using a flavored tobacco product during that time. Results from the 2018 U.S. Youth Behavioral Risk Survey revealed the number of middle and high school students using e-cigarettes rose from 3.6 million in 2018 to 5.4 million in 2019—a difference of about 1.8 million youth.3
It’s important to share that the disease which prevented the Wellness Ambassadors from engaging in their counter tobacco day of advocacy presents a danger to those currently using tobacco. Inhaled nicotine, through vaping or traditional cigarettes, weakens the protective lining of the lungs, paralyzing the tiny hair cells (cilia) that sweep the lung clear of foreign particles. Smokers already have widespread lung inflammation and micro-scarring that exacerbates the pneumonia firestorm caused by any virus – especially one as rampant as Covid-194.
In closing, thank you for the opportunity to share this story; it’s important to highlight the good work and efforts by our youth and talented local artists who invested their time to share why it’s more important than ever to I#takedowntobacco.
1 https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/smoking-region/tobacco-use-alaska-2019
2 https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/about
3 https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth_data/tobacco_use/index.htm
