Caledonia Argus

Project Alert helps extinguish teen smoking

Posted: 3/19/02

By Shannon McKinney
Argus News Reporter

Project Alert is one reason for statistics that show a significant drop in Houston Countyís teen tobacco smoking rate.

The teen tobacco use across the state of Minnesota reflects decreases too.

From 1998 to 2001 according to the Minnesota Student Survey, Houston County saw a 15 and 17 percent decrease in ninth grade boys and girls tobacco use in the last 30 days. There was a 23% reduction of 12th grade boys smoking in the last 30 days from 1998 to 2001 in the county, only a six percent reduction for girls.

The Argus will use this and the next two issues to explore what has been done to cause that decrease.

In 1998, together with the public health department, schools in Houston County tapped into grant money allocated to them through the Tobacco Endowment Fund. With this money, teachers can choose to incorporate a curriculum called ìProject Alertî which uses a different, proven approach to help teens make a positive choice about tobacco use and other risky drugs.

So what makes Project Alert (PA) special?

Project Alert in 5th and 6th grades

Judy Flaten, a counselor at Caledonia Elementary School has fully implemented the PA curriculum to students in fifth and sixth grades at Caledonia Elementary.

The basis of the curriculum revolves around interaction, hands-on activities involving large groups and a wide variety of ideas.

The classes began in October 2001. She said, ìThe kids really loved it and looked forward to it.î

Instead of a test, the class is divided into groups and the questions are answered in the style of a game show. ìI ask questions to groups and they answer. It gets real noisy. Itís just fun to see them get excited,î she said.

Parents are also involved at home in discussions with their kids. She said, ìThis really gives them a safe opportunity to talk.î

Instead of parents asking, ìDid you do drugsî, they learn to ask questions like, ìWhen did you feel pressure?î and ìHow did you deal with it?î

The Argus talked with three fifth grade students about PA.

All three know of at least one family member who struggles with smoking and trying to quit.

Maria Drenckhahn said, ìI have a (relative) who has a lung disease. He lost all his hair (from cancer treatment). Heís been smoking for over 40 years and he canít stop.î

Drenckhahn says she wonít smoke, ìItís bad! I wonít do it! It hurts you.î

She liked PA. ìWe get to do a lot of cool things, We get to do little skits for different ways to say no to smoking, drugs and alcohol,î she said.î

Erica Myhre said the class made her realize how bad smoking is for your body. ìI knew it was bad for your health, but when Mrs. Flaten started talking about it, I knew it was really bad.î

Myhre said she thought lung damage and bad breath were the worst effects of tobacco smoking. She spoke of an adult she knew who smoked, had bad breath, and also had a yellow toothbrush.

Walneshia Rainey said she thought PA was fun. ìWe learned how to say no and what it does to you.î She added, ìI liked the little plays that we did because we got to make them up.î

Rainey, too, has seen how a smoking addiction can negatively affect an adultís behavior toward other people.

She said she isnít interested in smoking, ìI donít like the smell of it. Sometimes it makes me sick.î

7th & 8th grade

Gail McCormick teaches 7th & 8th grade health. She likes to use different pieces of PA, Target Market and other information sources for teaching class.

Before using those PA and Target Market, McCormickís class tended to involve more lecturing and statistics. Now, the students learn with a more hands-on method. ìInstead of me deciding, itís the students. They have to perform the projects,î she explained.

The eighth grade semester project involved students creating childrenís books about saying no to smoking and other drugs that could be read to second and third graders. One group went to the second grade rooms and read the books and asked questions.

McCormickís class covers more than smoking tobacco. It covers disease, other drugs, alcohol, and CPR.

McCormick also has candid discussions with her class about the kinds of television and radio commercials they see and hear against smoking.

One day last year, students attended a science fair with different stations that featured aspects of unhealthy choices.

10th grade health

Scott Sorenson, who teaches 10th grade health at Caledonia High School, says he feels the PA curriculum may do more for the younger grades, although, it has some aspects that inherently make it effective for the older grades too.

For one, he likes the role play aspect of the PA. He said that by the time a student reaches 10th grade, he or she will have already made up their mind on how they will respond to tobacco use and other drugs.

Role play asks the student to put themselves in a situation for deciding how to respond to and approach friends who have a problem with drugs.

Sorenson says the curriculum works best when role playing is initiated by the student. He explained, ìWhen they can set up their own role play, they can get more involved. They seem to listen better when other students are presenting things.î

Sorenson said the biggest hurdle for a teenager to overcome is the fear of telling a friend that they have a problem. But he added, ìIf youíre any type of friend, youíll help your friend. Friends donít let their friends do destructive things to themselves.

He understands that itís hard for students to tell a counselor or a parent about a friendís drug problem, but that sometimes itís necessary.

Why kids smoke?

Kaye Dahle, high school counselor at CHS, went through the initial training of PA. However, she found she could not implement it for her purposes, because she was involved more on the discipline-end of tobacco and other related drug use offenses.

Whenever anyone is cited for tobacco or alcohol violation by the school, the district must administer a four-hour class.

Two or three years ago, before PA was used, Dahle had organized the four hour session to include presentations from the police department, the health department and social services to convey to students the seriousness of their actions.

After talking to many students who have smoked, Dahle offered some explanations that have been given for reasons to smoke.

The biggest reason is their parents smoke. She said, ìParents have a hard time saying, ëYou shouldnít smokeí, when they do.íî

Dahle said kids talk about being nervous in big social groups and smoking gives them something to do with their hands helping them to relax.

She said boys especially struggle with the addiction. ìEven at 14, 15 and 16 years-old, theyíre so addicted. It is more than they can deal with. Quitting may mean changing their set of friends and it becomes too hard to quit,î she said.

Dahle said kids start smoking at 10 and 11 years old. ìThe younger they start, the more addicted they are,î she said.

Dahle believes kids today are maturing faster because of the type of media they are exposed to and the mobile type of society.

She also feels kids are much smarter than we realize. ìI wish I could say adults are smarter...theyíre wiser. I think people are starting to realize that kids are smart and allow them to make their own decisions.î

Dahle explained that the best way a teacher can teach is to not be the center of the class but to facilitate learning.

Next Week

Next week, The Argus will talk with students who teach other students about making healthy choices.

ìDads Make a Differenceî is funded by the Tobacco Endowment Fund. The program uses students to involve younger grades in role playing and showing the affects of teen pregnancy and the importance of a father or father figure in the lives of children.

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