Shiny Guest Blogger Lauren Modeen of OPPOSE writes:
A couple of weeks ago I heard a riveting author, Rosalind Wiseman, speak on her area of expertise: teen issues (her book became the screenplay for the movie Mean Girls). As Rosalind talked about the challenges and later life-forming consequences of what teens face – bullying, lack of self-esteem, peer pressure, I thought to myself, how did I ever make it out of teen-hood in one piece?
A couple of weeks ago I heard a riveting author, Rosalind Wiseman, speak on her area of expertise: teen issues (her book became the screenplay for the movie Mean Girls). As Rosalind talked about the challenges and later life-forming consequences of what teens face – bullying, lack of self-esteem, peer pressure, I thought to myself, how did I ever make it out of teen-hood in one piece?
A couple of days later, a 15-year-old teenage girl and I were looking at smokeless tobacco products together. “Unbelievable” we both agreed. The tobacco products held an uncanny resemblance to something completely harmless, like Tic Tacs.
“We don’t even have a chance” she said.
“What do you mean?” I continued. “Well, with cigarettes we know they are really bad, so even when our friends do it, it’s easier to say no. But this stuff looks just like candy, so we don’t even know what the bad it’s doing.” Yea, I thought to myself, the bad it’s doing…how about throat cancer, gum disease, stomach cancer…
Tobacco companies are marketing these products directly at tweens. The products look just like candy, are flashy, fruity, and are priced extremely low because research shows that youth are highly price-sensitive in their purchasing decisions. Products are often sold individually (broken up from their original sets), and cost well below $5, less than the price of cigarettes.
The result? From 2004 – 2010, there was a 53 percent increase in smokeless tobacco use among 10th graders. Once kids get hooked, they often become nicotine users for life (and contribute directly to the bottom line of tobacco companies).
These stats are unsettling, but Massachusetts is not sitting around waiting for the damage to occur. In the last few months, the Mass. Dept. of Public Health launched an online Ning community called OPPOSE, to bring awareness to sneaky tobacco marketing. The community has nearly 300 parents, teachers, and coaches engaging on the subject. There are blog posts, discussions, event listings, and ways to get involved and do some good.
Want to jump in and help also? Here are 6 easy ways to get involved:
1) Join OPPOSE.ning.com to learn more about what’s going on and get involved.
2) Follow @OpposeTobaccoMA and RT our tweets
3) Fan the Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/OpposeTobaccoMA
4) Blog about your thoughts on this on your personal blog
5) Attend a mall event near you - http://oppose.ning.com/events
6) Forward this post to parents and adults you know who might want to get involved
Join the discussion!
-- Submitted by guest blogger Lauren Modeen, OPPOSE
@exilauren or 617-680-7997
Disclaimer: My Shiny Monkey is not affiliated with OPPOSE and was not compensated in any way for this post. This blog post author's views are her own. We DO support tobacco prevention programs like OPPOSE and have invited Lauren to guest post because we believe smoking kills, and sneaky tactics should be exposed.
Disclaimer: My Shiny Monkey is not affiliated with OPPOSE and was not compensated in any way for this post. This blog post author's views are her own. We DO support tobacco prevention programs like OPPOSE and have invited Lauren to guest post because we believe smoking kills, and sneaky tactics should be exposed.
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