Weatherly teens don’t need tobacco

Despite the well-documented health risks of smoking, an estimated 36.5 million Americans still engage in the habit, according to the American Cancer Society.

Students at Weatherly High School did their part to reduce that number by raising awareness during the “Great American Smokeout” on Thursday.

Since 1977, the annual event has encouraged those who still smoke to take one day off, whether they decide to start again the next day, or use it as a new start.

Tobacco is the number one preventable cause of death, according to Rebekah McFadden, adviser of Weatherly’s Teens Against Tobacco Use.

Members of TATU, under the leadership of school nurse Rebekah McFadden, tried to make those statistics more relevant by chalking the outline of a person eight times during the day, one for each class period, with 41 tally marks inside each outline.

The 41 tally marks signify the number of Americans who die every 45 minutes from conditions caused by tobacco. They also made announcements over the public address system to reinforce the message.

“Within each (45-minute) class period, 41 people die of a disease caused by tobacco use,” Ali Hernandez said.

The outlines of bodies certainly caught the attention of fellow students. Taking a stand in school can be tough. But TATU students like Kenny Hinkle said the message is worth sharing.

“It’s not hard, because there are so many reasons it’s bad, that it’s not really difficult to explain to people why it’s bad, and hopefully get people to quit smoking,” Hinkle said.

They even took the message home to their loved ones. Tara Flores said she has loved ones who smoke, and tries to convey to them the importance of quitting.

“Now that I’m in this group, my mom’s more aware of it. That way I don’t get grounded when I confront her,” Flores said.