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November 17, 1999
Where there's smoke, there are quittersBy ERIC SERRANO Journal Staff Writer NEW ULM -- Ask any number of smokers and they will likely tell you they would love to quit. For one group of area teachers nipping the habit in the bud will be the focus of a pledge program Thursday. "It's hard to quit, there's no doubt about that," River Bend Alternative Learning Center instructor Peg Sundell said. "We'd like to help the kids that do smoke kick the habit before it's any tougher for them." River Bend staffers are asking students to sign a pledge to take part in the state and national one-day stop smoking program called the Great American Smokeout, or D-Day in Minnesota. The staff will spend the day with the 43 students who have offered to take part in the no-smoking day. They will provide them with strategies for quitting, health information, and, "... most importantly support," said Sundell. "A kind word and lots of encouragement can go a long way. Everyone who tries to quit, whether they are young or older, needs to have someone making them feel the choice not to smoke is a good choice. Encouragement can go a long way," she said. The student quitters-to-be will meet with a nurse from Brown County's Public Health Department to discuss the types of treatments that are available. Each will receive a "survival kit" that includes no-smoking aids like gum, hard candy, and toothpicks. Because family plays an important role in helping smokers quit, quitters and their parents are invited to an evening session, 7 p.m., Thursday at the school to cover quitting techniques and examine the health consequences of smoking. On Friday, the quitters will have a follow-up session with the school counselor to see how each fared during the course of the day. For their part, some of the RBALC students opting to go smokeless for the day, are genuinely committed to keeping their pledge. Reasons for wanting to quit vary. "I probably started smoking when I was 10 years-old," said Joe, now 18. "I don't know why I started. I probably thought it was cool. My parents both smoked, so I didn't see anything wrong with it." But it's the rising cost of smoking (a pack of cigarettes cost between $2.50 and $3.30) that is prompting Joe to seek and end to the habit. "I just can't believe how expensive it is," he said. "I'm tired of spending that kind of money on something I'm not getting anything out of," sixteen-year-old Phil, a smoker of five years, said. Karl,17, has been smoking for five years. "I started smoking because I liked the buzz. Now there's no buzz. I can't run the mile anymore. Besides, if I'm gonna die, I don't want it to be after I was lying in a hospital bed, wasting away for a couple of years." Sheila, another RBALC student, is also an 18-year-old mother to an 18-month-old toddler. Her child prompted her to try to quit smoking. "The second-hand smoke is a good enough reason," she said. "But, when I saw him copying me -- he picked up a cigarette, put it in his month, and tried to light it -- that was too much." The students all agree the school program might help, where attempts to quit on their own have failed. "I tried a couple of months ago, but it's pretty hard when everyone around you is smoking," Phil said. "It really will be a big help that everyone else is doing it (quitting for the day) too," said Karl. "It takes away a lot of the temptation." Sundell is optimistic about the program's potential for success. "There are plenty of people out there who have said, 'Just tell them they can't smoke' and they'll stop it.' That's just not realistic," she said. "We're talking about teen-agers here. For a lot of them it (smoking) didn't start out as something cool, it started as one of those rebellious activities kids their age will engage in. Now they're hooked, and we want to help them quit. "We're trying to take a positive approach to changing the behavior by rewarding them for making a good choice, rather than punishing them if they make the unhealthy choice," Sundell said.
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