Teens put the "run" on big tobacco companies at reACT! Mini Summit

A total of 15 teens attended a Malta High School reACT! Mini Summit, on Friday and Saturday, June 3 and 4, at the Phillips County Coalition for Healthy Choices Building in Malta.

The event began with with a travelling taco supper and "Big Tobacco Advertising Tactics – Past to Present" presentation by Tobacco Prevention Specialist, Sonia Young. Young educated participants on the history of how Big Tobacco Companies used and still use deceptive marketing tools, logos, point-of-sale advertising, and association-style advertising to connect tobacco with positive images and how they target certain audiences, especially youth.

Senior reACT! Member Riley Mortenson presented, "Skin Cancer and Tobacco Use Risk," informing participants how to prevent skin cancer from the sun and stated that "the sun's rays aren't the only thing that causes skin cancer, smoking tobacco causes wrinkles, yellowed skin and boosts the risk of squamous cell carcinoma by 52 percent, according to recent studies." They suspect that smokers' increased risk can be attributed to tobacco's harmful effect on the immune system, since people with damaged or suppressed immune systems are much more likely to develop skin cancers.

Other activities included team water balloon volleyball along with a reACT! Tie Dye T-shirt workshop. During the workshop they learned the importance of logos and their meanings and were asked to think of a logo for the backs of their shirts to promote Tobacco Free Parks and Trails at the following day's reACTivsm activity at the Malta Trails Color Run. One of the logo ideas was: "Run from Tobacco!"

After the tie dye workshop, Michelle McNiven, with the MT Tobacco Use Prevention Program in Helena, did an interactive power point presentation on "Smoking in the Movies – Sneaky Tobacco Company Tactics." Youth saw first-hand how Big Tobacco companies try to manipulate audiences through their advertisements, images of smoking and allusions to smoking in the movies. Next, they were asked to guess how many times these instances were found in the movie they chose to watch, "National Treasure." The correct guess was anywhere from 10 to 29 times. The presentation gave the teens a better awareness of the deception Big Tobacco companies, even in the movies they watch.

The reACT! members ended the summit the next day by teaming up with the Malta Red Hattitudes and manning a color station during the Malta Trails Color Run. reACTors had loads of fun tossing red powder at the Color Run Participants, promoting Tobacco Free Parks and Trails, while wearing most of the red dye themselves!

The MHS reACT! is a youth-led group of 40-plus 9th -12th grade students and is advised by Tobacco Prevention Specialist, Sonia Young. If you are trying to quit using tobacco, call the free MT Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) or log on to their website: http://www.QuitNowMontana.com.