Money up in smoke
Cost of cigarettes, snuff hits home with Rankin students
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, March 5, 2014
RANKIN INLET
A Tobacco Cessation Week was held at Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik (MUI) in Rankin Inlet this past month.
Briana Taparti pedals to get her heart rate up under the watchful eye of a public health worker during a tobacco cessation fair at Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik in Rankin Inlet this past month. - photo courtesy of Katharine O'Connell |
The event was co-ordinated by teacher Katharine O'Connell and the Department of Public Health.
O'Connell said the week began with a tobacco cessation fair at the MUI gym.
She said public health set up a number of displays to show students the negative effects of tobacco use.
"We also had a group of hands-on stations in the gym that my biology 20 students ran for the event," said O'Connell.
"We had stations to calculate the cost of snuff and tobacco, so students could see the money they've spent on these products since they began using them.
"There was also a station for smokers and non-smokers to check their lung capacities, as well as another that illustrated what it's like trying to breathe with emphysema or asthma."
O'Connell said a couple of students surveyed the entire school for their science fair project this past semester.
She said 178 students at MUI responded to a number of questions on tobacco use.
"They were asked if they chew tobacco or smoke cigarettes, how often, and for what reasons.
"They were also asked if they'd quit if they were given help to do so.
"Next year we hope to have an actual tobacco cessation program at MUI.
"Part of the reason for the survey was to gauge interest among the students for a program like that."
O'Connell said guest speaker Arsene Ussak talked to students about his experience with cancer from smoking cigarettes, and a number of anti-tobacco information clips from the Smokescreen program were shown on TV.
"The teachers decided if they wanted their classes to participate in Smokescreen.
"The idea was for them to watch the clips and vote on their favourites, and then we sent the results into public health this past week."
O'Connell said the program made an impact on the students, but it remains to be seen if that translates into long-term success.
She said looking at the economic costs of snuff and cigarettes made the whole thing real for a number of students.
"One student who has been chewing snuff for the past seven years was able to calculate he'd spent about $19,000 on snuff.
"That was an eye-opener for some of them, especially when we talked about what they could have bought with the same money."
