LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - From a blackened, tarry lung to an artery oozing white plaque, no graphic detail was spared as students in Fort Simpson learned about the effects of smoking.

On Nov. 9 and 10 students at both Bompas Elementary School and Thomas Simpson School listened to Don't be a Butthead presentations. This is the seventh year of the territorial government's campaign to encourage youth not to smoke.

As part of the Don't be a Butthead Campaign presentation at Thomas Simpson School, Ernest Tsetso, left, examines a pig's lung that was treated to look like the lung of a heavy smoker while Miriam Wideman, a health promotion specialist, provides information. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

"It's good to connect with kids at this level," said Miriam Wideman, a health promotion specialist with the Department of Health and Social Services who gave the presentations in the village.

In a lot of smaller communities smoking is so prevalent it seems like the normal thing to do and that perception needs to be changed, she said.

Wideman said she generally gets a good response to the multi-media presentations from students.

"They're interested in seeing the actual physical effects on the body," she said.

The campaign plays on that fascination. During the junior high presentation students were engaged in a crime scene investigation. After listening to video clips from a coroner and a witness the students looked at physical evidence from the victim to determine who was responsible for their death.

The evidence included an artery, really a plastic tube, that one student had to squeeze plaque, actually mayonnaise, out of. The reaction to the dripping substance was looks of disgust and groans of "ewwww" from the rest of the class.

Later in the presentation Angela Lu, a Grade 8 student, donned plastic gloves and squeezed molasses out of a plastic bag to mimic getting tar out of a lung.

"The experiment I was doing was really gross so I never want to smoke in my life," said Lu.

Lu, who's seen two Butthead presentations before, said the experiments made this the best presentation yet.

"It was cooler than before," she said.

Students were also fascinated by the difference between two pig's lungs, one healthy and one that had been treated to look like the lung of a heavy smoker.

"I thought the lungs were gross," said Devon Ruttle, a Grade 7 student.

Ruttle said he learned that if you smoke your lungs can barely hold air. The presentation makes you think about not smoking, he said.

After finishing the experiments students determined the culprit behind the victim's death was the tobacco industry.

Although students at all levels benefit from the campaign, high school students begin to get a sense of indignity about the tobacco industry and what it's promoting, Wideman said. At that age they're making decisions about smoking so it's important to talk with them, she said.

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