Herald Ledger Staff
One by one, the elementary students of Lyon
County Schools fi led silently into the Conference
Room on the Lyon County campus on both Thursday
and Friday.
It was enough for them to see the older students,
their role models — the ones they think are so grown
up and cool. But, it was quite another to see the row
of high school students standing silently in front of
displays that could only be described as disgusting.
After the younger children took their seats, eagerly
awaiting to see and hear, the high school students
stood still and silent with their backs toward
their younger charges.
Finally, as the session opened, the high school
students turned and introduced themselves and
repeated the pledge that they had already taken:
“I choose not to smoke or use tobacco in any way,
because ... ”
One by one, they told their story to a rapt audience;
there was a young man with a heart condition,
a dirt bike rider, and a runner. There was a
cheerleader, a singer, and a young lady who wore
braces.
One slowly turned and shared how he had lost his
grandfather to lung cancer, and a young lady who
loves to ride horses explained how athletic one has
to be to participate in such an activity.
A basketball player explained how hard it is to
stay in top shape, and a 4-H offi cer explained that
offi cers choose not to use tobacco.
A piano player explained how her
hands and fi ngers were part of her talent,
and she dare not stain them yellow
or have them discolored in any way.
As part of the program, the thirdand
fourth-graders were shown models
of how tobacco use would affect their
lungs, their circulatory system, their
teeth, and their appearance.
Each high school student explained
several times that “smokers are not
bad people — that they just made a bad
choice at one point in their lives.” They
explained how addictive tobacco can be
and that judging people for their use
of tobacco is just as wrong as bullying
someone about anything else.
The students were given shirts to take
home, along with a sticker they wore
proudly for the rest of the day in order
to open a discussion with any family
members who may be caught in tobacco
addiction.
Wanda Paris, Lyon 4-H Youth agent,
was all smiles at the program presented
by the high school 4-H students,
directed toward the third- and fourthgraders.
“I couldn’t be prouder,” Paris said
beaming.
The “Teens Against Tobacco Use” is a
program that has been ongoing in Lyon
schools for 13 years. It is a part of the
American Lung Association’s tobacco
education program that seeks to train
other trainers to present informational
programs to young people, so that when
they are approached by someone with:
“Do you want a cigarette? or would you
like a smoke?” their answer will be, ‘No,
thanks.’”
The teen mentoring program has
been much more successful in reaching
the young people than any chapter in a
health book, statistics show.
The group has given presentations
not only to elementary classes, but
also to the Explorer Club, and during
a Wellness Day activity in Livingston
County. They reached more than 1000
young people.
“Several grants have made the funding
possible for the shirts, stickers, and
some of the more expensive displays,”
Paris said, “but, it was pulled together
by this bunch of kids, and they have
done a tremendous job.”
