School Based Prevention Education Programs

"Truth About Tobacco Contest"

Extensive prevention efforts are supported at the local schools in an effort to decrease the number of youth who become tobacco users in the future. One of the activities promoted through the local health department is the yearly "Truth About Tobacco Contest." The 2006 contest targeted 4th and 5th graders. Each elementary school in the six county area was offered a $100.00 cash prize for the class with the most participation. Each student could hand in as many entries as they chose too. Participation is the 2005-'06 school year increased by over 50% in many of the local school districts. Before the entries are taken to the state contest a regional judging took place with a winner chosen from each school and an overall winner from each county in Central Utah. For information on local winners please contact your local health department.

For further information regarding the TRUTH from Youth anti-tobacco advertising contest visit www.youthagainsttobacco.com.

Phoenix Alliance Presentations

The Phoenix Alliance program, a statewide youth prevention program provides presentations to schools throughout the state. These presentations focus on teaching youth about the way tobacco companies target and deceive youth. Many of the school teachers that have made arrangements for these presentations have been very positive about the presentations. To make arrangements for a Phoenix Alliance presentation in your school you can contact your local health department and coordinate those presentations through the health educators. More information about the Phoenix Alliance program can be found at the following internet site: http://health.utah.gov/upa/

Tobacco Policies and Educational Curriculum

One of the main focuses of the Tobacco Prevention Control program is to assist local school leaders in developing comprehensive tobacco policies that promote tobacco cessation and provide information to educators on tobacco prevention curriculum that has been researched extensively and proven to be effective. To review Utah's Tobacco Prevention and Control Program's guidelines for a comprehensive school guideline on tobacco control, please refer to the following website: http://www.tobaccofreeutah.org/tpcpfy04report.pdf

Educational Materials Available

Educational resources provided by the Truth Campaign are available at the local health departments. These resources include posters, brochures for various age groups, cessation information and videos that can be borrowed for classroom presentations.

Back to Tobacco Prevention