Celebrate Kick Butts Day

March 25, 2009 marks the fourteenth annual Kick Butts Day, an event that encourages young people to stand up against the tobacco industry.  Participation is particularly important this year in light of new research indicating that tobacco companies have greatly increased efforts to target women and girls with purse-friendly packaging, and “slim,” “light,” and “feminine” products. 

Kick Butts Day was started in 1995 by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids  (CTFK) as a way to take ownership of this issue, promote visibility around youth smoking, and let tobacco companies know that kids won’t stand for the barrage of youth-targeted products and advertising. 

According to CTFK, the statistics regarding tobacco use among school age youth are alarming:   

• 3,500 children under 18 start smoking every day. 
• More than 1,000 youth become addicted to tobacco products every day.
• One in three of these kids will die of tobacco-related conditions.
• Almost 90% of adults who have ever smoked regularly started smoking before they turned 18. 
• Unless these trends are reversed, more than 6 million children who are under 18 today will die from smoking-related causes.
• Big Tobacco spends billions annually on marketing, much of which directly targets teens, each of whom they view as a “replacement customer” for the one that tobacco kills every 6.4 seconds.

In addition, major tobacco companies like Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds are stepping up their marketing to women and girls.  Deadly in Pink, a report issued by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, highlights this new strategy. 

The effects of tobacco on the health of women and young girls are clear: lung cancer has declined in men but NOT in women, and remains the leading killer of women.  Yet, the tobacco industry continues to introduce new products designed to play on the fashion sense and weight consciousness of women.  New colorful packages are billed as “purse packs” and products bear names like “Superslims Ultra Lites” and “Camel No. 9.” 

Since young people are much more susceptible to advertising efforts, and make up a significant portion of the readership of magazines like Cosmopolitan, InStyle and Glamour, where ads for these new products appear, teen girls are likely to make up the bulk of new customers resulting from these campaigns.    

Kick Butts Day provides a great opportunity for schools to involve youth in an anti-tobacco campaign.  And there are several ways schools can do that.  For instance, when speaking before their local School Board about adopting a comprehensive tobacco-free schools policy, schools may consider bringing a group of teens to bolster an anti-tobacco argument.  Schools districts should also make sure that comprehensive tobacco-free school policies are already adopted or reviewed to include the Centers for Disease and Control’s recommendations that all tobacco products be banned from all school premises and events.  Part of that process can include involving a panel of kids in discussing policy implementation and enforcement.

For more information on tobacco use prevention through schools, visit NSBA’s School Health Programs website or email schoolhealth@nsba.org.  Our website includes a “Tobacco Use Prevention 101” packet, links to other useful resources, and a database which provides background information, sample policies, and other useful resources.  For ideas for quick, low-cost and easy Kick Butts Day activities in your community, please click here .