Approximately 70% of adult smokers began using tobacco before the age of 18. Many adolescents have had their first cigarette by the age of 11 and are addicted by age 14. Cigarette smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States. Each year over 400,000 people lose their lives to a tobacco related illness. According to the American Lung Association, in 2004, smoking cost the United States over $193 billion dollars. This included loss of productivity and direct health care expenditures. This is an extremely large sum of money to be spent in an economy that does not have room for frivolous spending.

Woodbridge High School, in partnership with The Wellness Center, for the third year in a row, has received grant funding from the Delaware Division of Public Health’s Tobacco Prevention Community Contract. Funding for the contract is provided by the Delaware Health Fund and managed by the American Lung Association of Delaware. The funds are used to promote an anti-tobacco message throughout the district. Students who are current smokers and/or tobacco users can seek smoking cessation services through the Wellness Center. Individual and group counseling sessions using the NOT (Not on Tobacco) program are available to all students in grades 7-12. This program is known to be an effective tool for cessation and reduction. It is a structured approach to cessation. Students learn to identify their reasons for smoking, healthy alternatives to tobacco use, and people who will support them in their efforts to quit. Although prevention is the key, it is important that students have a place to turn to for assistance with quitting.

The Wellness center also sponsors an active KBG (Kick Butts Generation) group. The KBG is a statewide youth movement that promotes tobacco prevention. They act as role models to their peers and younger students to warn of the dangers of tobacco use. Their goal is to keep all Delaware youth off tobacco. This year, our KBG students have participated in activities such as the annual intern training at Cape Henlopen State Park, where they learn leadership skills and in November marched in the Returns day parade. In March of this year students will host a carnival and puppet show for first graders at the elementary school. Their goal is to reach out to the younger students and teach them about the hazards of tobacco use in the hopes of preventing them from ever using tobacco products.

Our goal is to keep this tradition of tobacco prevention going. Each year we look for new students to involve in our programs and innovative ways to educate as many students throughout the district as possible. The Wellness Center has had the opportunity to speak with fifth and eighth grade students at the middle school this year as well as high school students. We will continue to strive each day to help children avoid the pressure and empower them to just say “No.”