On January 30th and 31st, students and teachers from 18 of New Brunswick’s High Schools descended upon the city of Saint John for the Tobacco-Free Schools Rally. They were joined by Public Health Nurses, Addiction Services Workers and tobacco-control experts from across the province.
The Rally kicked-off Monday night with a pizza party and a number of youth presentations. A group of girls from James M. Hill shared the details of their “Butt Out! Keeping our Girls Smoke-free” project; members of the Leo Hayes TATU club showed us a video they created for all new grade 9’s entering the school; and two very energetic students from Fredericton High let us know all about the activities their student-powered TATU club organizes and leads. All of the students wielded questions from the crowd wanting to pick their brains for additional tips and best practices...and, judging by the feedback received, their presentations were a huge hit!
Tuesday’s session focused on sharing and learning with a number of roundtable and open forum discussions to address the questions on everyone’s mind. Then, during the lunch-time rush, students had a blast “Taking it to the Streets” with signs, displays, flyers and even a megaphone! “It” refers to their message about tobacco industry practices (marketing to youth); the tobacco death toll (129 Canadians a day!); the dangers of second-hand smoke (gas chambers contain hydrogen cyanide, so does second-hand smoke, keep it outside); and tobacco industry “Powerwalls” (Out of Sight, Out of Mind).
The youth even managed to catch the attention of local media…most notably, ”Live at 5” did a piece about their “Take it to the Streets” activities that aired on the 31st!
Recently overheard: “The potential for youth to effect positive change is enormous!” How true that is...
The 129 group heading to their location for Take it to the Streets
Two students blitzing cars with their Out of Sight, Out of Mind message
Scott and Bobby from FHS
Showing off their 129 t-shirts
The Keep it Outside group has a photo-op with curious pedestrians
Human billboards taking their message to the City Market
One of our groups being interviewed by a local radio station
Three of the girls from James M. Hill
Stephen Spence yelling out quotes from the tobacco industry
The Out of Sight, Out of Mind group plastered the city with signs like these
Taking down powerwalls
Joy Legere(Chipman) and Adam Nickerson(MVHS)
