(Children Opposed to Smoking Tobacco) was founded in January 1996 by a group of sixth-eighth grade students who wanted to keep tobacco products out of the hands of children. We had just learned that 3,000 children start smoking everyday and that 1,000 of them will die prematurely as a result of their smoking. When our teacher asked if we wanted to do something about it, we didn't think there was much a group of kids could do. We knew that the tobacco companies were big and had a lot of power.
We started talking about smoking, and found out that a lot of us had something in common....the suffering that's caused by tobacco use. One of us lost a grandfather, another a grandmother, and still another lost an aunt. Many of us knew people who were sick because of their addiction to tobacco...a grandmother who was unable to take walks in the park or go to church because she was on oxygen, a stepfather who had to sit up at night so he could breathe.
The more we talked, the more upset we got! We wanted to know why the government didn't stop the tobacco companies from making cigarettes. The government keeps other harmful products from being sold. We decided to find out if there was anything we could do to help protect kids.
It didn't take us long to realize there was plenty we could do. There's a lot you can do too! Read on to see how we are working to protect children. Reading our story might give you some ideas on ways you can help. You may want to join us!
The first thing we wanted to know is why so many kids are smoking, so we decided to do some research. We met at the county library, and later back in our classroom, we continued to look for information on the Internet.
We began looking around our homes and in our town. We saw Joe Camel and Misty used as "In" and "Out" signs at our local supermarkets. We saw tobacco hand baskets, check-out dividers, clocks, newspaper racks, billboards, magazine ads, hats, shirts, mugs, CDs, and boxes. It seemed like we couldn't walk down a street without seeing some form of tobacco advertising.
We started to collect promotional items that were marketed by the tobacco industry. Before we knew it, our classroom had become littered with a "trinket and trash" collection. Most of the things we found looked like stuff that was meant to get the attention of kids....a shimmering purple "Joe Camel" can with sides covered with matchbox like motocycles and race cars....a Newport mug that has a race car in the base of it......
We wanted others to join us in our research , so we posted our project on America Online's bulletin board. We asked that others write letters to government officials and organizations to find out if there are any laws to protect children from the tobacco industry. We took our own advice and began a letter writing campaign.