The Chester County Tobacco-Free Coalition's Kick Butts Day youth essay

This project is sponsored by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Tobacco Control Project and funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. 866.756.5412| SEPAtobacco@phmc.org The Chester County Tobacco-Free Coalition’s Kick Butts Day youth essay reading took place on March 25, 2009 at Chester County Book & Music Company. Foreword By Tamara Schauf, Co-Chair Chester County Tobacco-Free Coalition On March 25, 2009, students across the country participated in Kick Butts Day (KBD), a nationwide initiative that puts children and adolescents in charge of the effort to stop youth tobacco use. During the first quarter of 2009, the Chester County TobaccoFree Coalition (CCTFC) sponsored a writing contest that was open to all seventh- and eighth-grade students in Chester County, Pa. Students were asked to write an essay or personal story that addressed one of the contest topics related to tobacco use. To help the students make their voices heard, CCTFC held a KBD youth essay reading at the Chester County Book & Music Company in West Chester. CCTFC members selected the 16 best entries out of the 95 that were received. On March 25, 2009, there was a packed audience of almost 100 individuals at the Chester County Book & Music Company, and the energy in the room was palpable. The 16 finalists were beautiful writers, eloquent speakers, and inspirational role models. They read personal essays and true stories about their feelings regarding tobacco use and the tobacco industry and made a huge impact on the members of the audience, who were crying, laughing, and cheering on the students. The students’ messages were loud and clear – they have been profoundly and negatively impacted by tobacco, they vow to remain tobacco-free, and they plan to encourage others to make healthier choices. This booklet is a compilation of selected participating students’ essays. The members of our coalition hope that you and your loved ones are inspired by these students’ sentiments. For those of you who want to quit tobacco, let these young people’s words motivate you to take action. For those of you who are not quite sure you are ready to quit, allow the words of these concerned youth to resonate with you. For those of you have successfully quit, congratulations on taking charge of your health and setting a positive example for students of all ages. And for those of you who are hoping for a family member or friend to quit, it’s ok to conveniently “forget” this booklet on your loved one’s desk or dining room table. Contact Information CCTFC Web page: www.chesco.org/cctfc Tamara Schauf, Co-Chair Chester County Tobacco-Free Coalition Government Services Center 601 Westtown Road, Suite 175 West Chester, PA 19380-0990 Phone: 610-344-5286 E-mail: tschauf@chesco.org Melissa Walsh, Co-Chair Chester County Tobacco-Free Coalition Government Services Center 601 Westtown Road, Suite 175 West Chester, PA 19380-0990 Phone: 610-344-6685 E-mail: mwalsh@chesco.org Table of Contents Death Sentence by Akash My Concerns about the Effects of Tobacco by Amanda Henry Kickin’ Butts and Staying Above the Influence by Ana Tadeo My Broken Heart by Caitlyn Burruss Untitled by Carli Don’t Smoke by Conrad My Concerns about the Health Effects of Tobacco by Danielle Autieri A Smokey Story by Devonne Moore Untitled by Ellie Delany Guardian Angel by Emory Saia Health Effects of Tobacco by Grace Paik The Big Tobacco Industry by Hannah Weisman In Memory of Mom by Hope Corry The Day My Life Changed by Jack Halliday My Concerns about the Health Effects of Tobacco by James Fields Big Tobacco Companies by Jamie Connors Kick the Stick by Jennifer My Concerns and Fears about Tobacco by Jesse Sklaroff Kick Butts Day Essay by John Cappiello My Thoughts about Big Tobacco by Jordan Paskings My Thoughts about Big Tobacco by Joseph My Concerns about Tobacco by Julia Liu It Is Not All About You by Justin Herget True Story by Kayla My Tobacco Thoughts by Kenneth Ramondo My Pop-pop Neely by Lauren Neely Tobacco is Wacko by Madeline Hoot My Concerns about the Health Effects of Tobacco by Matt Big Tobacco Shouldn’t Be Big by Meaghan Young Shut Down the Companies Already! by Paige Rodgers Untitled by Peggy Findeison Tobacco Awareness for the World by Praveen Prabhu What Tobacco Really Does by Ryan Bramer My Story by Ryan Gyuris How Tobacco Has Impacted My Life by Sydni My Grandmother’s Life with Smoking by Will Miller Jeanne’s Cigarette by YingYing Shang Health Effects of Tobacco by Zachery Smith 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10-11 12 13 14-15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34-35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Death Sentence By Akash Great Valley Middle School Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the world. Although it is preventable, it still kills about 5.4 million people per year – that is one person every six seconds. Despite this shocking statistic, Americans spend billions of dollars on tobacco products a year. It is not true that cigarettes and chewing tobacco relieve people of their stress, and tobacco can also cause many diseases. Chewing tobacco can rot your teeth and can cause gum disease. Smoking tobacco can also rot your teeth and cause gum disease, lung cancer, emphysema and heart disease. Unfortunately, there are many more tobaccolinked diseases than the ones I have listed above. Tobacco use affects me both directly and indirectly. There is the obvious concern of secondhand smoke and also the discrete concern regarding the amount of money being used to educate people about tobacco use. Secondhand smoke kills about 38,000 people a year in the U.S. alone. It is not fair for these victims to die because of other people’s poor decisions, such as choosing to smoke. Even though secondhand smoke does not involve smoking a cigarette, it has the same consequences of directly smoking one. For example, secondhand smoke can cause people to suffer from lung diseases and breathlessness, aggravate asthma symptoms, and cause heart disease. Remember that these people may have never touched a cigarette in their lives; they may have only been exposed to a family member or friend who has made the poor decision to smoke. I hope that people who smoke learn that not only are they endangering their own lives, but they are also jeopardizing the lives of others around them. In order to find all the statistics stated in this paper, people had to conduct studies and experiments. These studies are not free. In fact, some of these government-funded studies cost millions of dollars. That is way too much money just to compile a couple of statistics. This money could be used for better things such as funding teachers’ salaries, purchasing school supplies, and creating safer learning environments. If tobacco use were at a minimum, there would not be as many people affected by tobacco. Therefore, there will be no need to compile statistics because the amount of people that use tobacco would be so small. I hope that people will gradually stop using tobacco, so the money spent on educating kids and families about the effects of tobacco can be used for something else. Tobacco continues to kill millions of people each year worldwide. This addiction needs to be reduced. Unfortunately, ending tobacco use is an impossible task because there will always be some people who feel that smoking or chewing tobacco is more beneficial to them than maintaining their own health. Though ending tobacco use may be an impossible goal, we can reduce the amount of tobacco used. By the time my classmates and I grow up, I hope that tobacco use declines, making the world a little safer for all of its citizens. 1 My Concerns about the Effects of Tobacco By Amanda Henry Saint Joseph School Do you know someone who uses tobacco? Smoking is one of the worst things you can do to your body. It is very unhealthy for a person. It is damaging to the smoker and the people around him or her. People develop many types of cancers and die from smoking. People shorten their lives because tobacco can result in a lot of health problems. Asthma, eye irritation, airway irritation and cancer are some of the problems. When I see individuals smoking cigarettes, they look unhealthy. Their teeth are stained and they cough between every inhalation. Tobacco is killing our environment by polluting the air. Adults and children who stand near smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke. Exposure occurs at home, outside the workplace, and in bars. Smoking can damage every part of your body. A young child who inhales smoke has a good chance of developing asthma, ear infections, behavioral problems and more. It is not easy for people to quit because they become addicted to the nicotine in the tobacco. Nicotine gives the smoker a pleasant feeling, but it only lasts for a little while. That’s why people want more and more. Counseling and medication can help them quit. Some people think quitting is one of the most difficult things they have ever done. The best way to avoid this problem: Don’t start smoking. 2 Kickin’ Butts and Staying Above the Influence By Ana Tadeo Phoenixville Area Middle School Smoking is awful. How awful is smoking? Smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer, gum cancer, and many other horrific cancers and diseases. Smoking is one of the worst ways to try to change the way you feel. Smoking does not do any good because it makes your life worse, and it puts you and everyone around you at risk, too. Smoking can also lead a person to try other drugs. No one plans to become a drug addict, and every one of the millions of people with drug dependencies started out thinking they had it under control. Saying that you have it under control when you don’t is one of the worst things that you can do for yourself, because now you won’t ask for help or you won’t think you need it. When you smoke tobacco, you inhale tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide and about 200 known poisons into your lungs, and that could lead to your death! People joke around at school that every few seconds a lot of people die of a smoking-related disease, but what if your friend died because he or she smoked? How would it make you feel to hear other people laughing about it? Smoking is also a leading cause of cancers of the mouth, throat, bladder, pancreas and kidney. Around 440,000 Americans die each year from tobacco-related causes, and the numbers climb higher and higher for the cancers that may be caused by smoking. If you smoke, all those around you are affected too. A huge amount of people die due to secondhand smoke. How would you feel to be the cause of a family member dying? Do everyone a favor and quit smoking or don’t smoke at all. Kick butt’s butt! 3 Finalist My Broken Heart By Caitlyn Burruss Great Valley Middle School Has anyone ever told you life isn’t fair? Well, I had to learn that the hard way. It all started when I found out that my uncle was in the hospital for smoking tobacco. He was my favorite uncle in the whole world. He was my best friend. So, when I found out I went into total shock. I would not talk, eat or drink. I recovered from my initial shock two days later, when I heard that my uncle got out of the hospital and went back home. When I heard that, I went to go see him. My uncle did not look well. My aunt said that he just needed some rest and that he would be back on his feet in no time. After three weeks he was back to normal, or so I thought. We played in the park like the old days before he started to smoke. Everything felt so real that I did not notice how much pain he was in. I always knew that something was wrong, but I never told anyone. I did not know what was happening because I was so young and so I kept it a secret. Then one day I went to go see him, and when I went up into his room, I saw him cough up blood because it was so bad. About 10 minutes later, he was sent back to the hospital. The doctor said they had to give him an X-ray. When the X-ray was done, the doctor told us that my uncle didn’t have much time to live. Every day after that, I would sit by his bed and cry as much as I could until I had to leave. I would wake up at night and start crying because I would dream about that day when he was coughing up blood everywhere. Then one day when I went to go see him at the hospital, he finally said something to me. He said that I should not cry or worry about him because it was his choice and that he would go to a better place. After that day, I never cried in front of him again. Instead, I cried all night and never went to sleep. After a while, my uncle found out because every time I visited him my eyes were red. Then whenever I saw him, he had a sad expression on his face. Everything felt like a very bad dream after that. One day when I went to go see him, I found out that everyone else was there, too. I asked my aunt what was going on and she said that my uncle died in his sleep. At first, I did not believe her until I saw him for myself. When I saw him, I went into total shock again. The next time I spoke again was at the funeral. Five days after he died, I went to his funeral. When I saw him, I burst out crying. My mom said that I have never cried that much since I was born. Every night after the funeral, I would lock myself in my room and cry myself to sleep. It made me sad to see how much I was troubling my mom. Ever since that day I promised that I would never do the same thing to myself. I would never smoke tobacco. I decided that because I never want what happened to my uncle to happen to me or my children. After that, I found out that tobacco is very bad for you. You can get lung damage, heart problems, or die. So to this day, I have never smoked tobacco. 4 Untitled By Carli Phoenixville Area Middle School Tobacco use has affected my family and me in so many ways. I remember waking up in the morning wondering when my parents would stop smoking for good. When I would walk downstairs to my basement, it smelled like cigarette smoke. It was horrible. I didn’t know if my parents would ever stop. I wasn’t fully aware of the consequences of smoking at that time, but it has all become clear to me now. You can suffer and even die from many terrible things. I never knew if my parents were going to get lung cancer or suffer from any other type of disease. It scared me so much. I would try to hide the cigarettes from my parents, but that didn’t work; I would just see a new box of them in my kitchen or downstairs in the basement. This all kept happening until one night, after my dad and I got home from the mall, I noticed my dad wasn’t feeling well. He went upstairs and rested for a while. When my mom went to check on him, she could tell he wasn’t feeling well. When they came downstairs, they told my sister and me that he had to be taken to the hospital just to make sure nothing serious was going to happen. But I knew, just from the look my dad had on his face, something was wrong. My mom finally came home that night and told us that my dad had a heart attack and was going to be staying in the hospital for a few days. Of course this had to happen the week before Christmas, and that few days that he was going to be spending in the hospital turned into a week. My dad had to stay at the hospital over Christmas Eve! After all of that happened, I think my parents finally realized that they didn’t want anything to happen to them or to us, so they stopped smoking. The basement doesn’t smell like smoke anymore, thankfully. My dad is fine now. He’s healthy and going on with his life without his cigarettes. I’ve learned so much from this experience. Whenever I see some kids smoking, it just disgusts me to think that they know what could happen to them but they keep doing it anyway. I will never smoke. It’s disgusting and also extremely dangerous. I’d rather live a long, healthy life than die at a young age from getting lung cancer or some other disease. 5 Don’t Smoke By Conrad Great Valley Middle School I never knew one of my grandmothers. Mary Louise McCauley, my mom’s mom, died from emphysema before I was born. She developed emphysema because she smoked cigarettes most of her life. Grandmom started smoking when she was 17 years old because she thought that it made her look grown-up and sophisticated. Even though they didn’t know as much back then (in the 1930s) as they do now about the bad health effects of tobacco, my grandmom told my aunt that she and her friends called cigarettes “cancer sticks.” Well, she didn’t get cancer but she did get emphysema. Grandmom quit smoking when she was in her 60s, but by then the damage was done. She spent the last three years of her life gasping for breath and needing extra oxygen. When I was little I didn’t think about the fact that I only had one grandmother. Then when I got older, I noticed that all of my friends had two grandmothers and I didn’t. My friends got money and anything they wanted from their grandmothers on a regular basis, or at least on their birthdays. Their grandmothers took them to fun and cool places. So I felt left out and cheated. Then when I found out that my grandmother died from a disease that cigarettes gave her, I felt angry at her for smoking at all. Tobacco stole my grandmother from me and I hope it doesn’t take anybody from you. 6 Finalist My Concerns about the Health Effects of Tobacco By Danielle Autieri Saint Joseph School Dear Tobacco, How might I compare thee to a horrible plague? Let me count the ways. You’re vile, cruel, destructive, murderous, sly, surrounding, spreading, and taking over. I may see you all around me, but don’t even try to take over me. I’m clean of your filth and always will be. Signed, Healthy, Tobacco-Free Child Tobacco is affecting the lives and health of people of all ages around the world, especially teens. I am very concerned about the effects of tobacco. Not all people know that if you smoke, you’re not only damaging yourself, but the people around you, the people you love. A smoker’s health will keep deteriorating until they are seriously diseased or even dead. The minor effects are well-known by all people and are sometimes thought to be curable. For example: Stained teeth? You can just whiten them. Bad breath? Pop a mint. Odor? A bubble bath and a spritz of perfume or cologne will take care of that. So you can fix any effects of smoking, right? Wrong. What about cancers such as stomach, pancreatic, esophageal, laryngeal, kidney, bladder, oral or lung? You can’t fix those with a stick of gum or an air freshener. Tobacco can hurt your body in ways you can’t even imagine or pronounce, like atherosclerotic peripheral vascular disease, angina, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and intrauterine growth retardation. Young people who plan to have bright futures with a healthy family should stay clear of this destructive menace we call tobacco. That amazing child you plan on having when you’re older could suffer because of you and your partner in crime if you use tobacco. Tobacco has caused an increase in infant mortality, low birth weights, high-risk babies and impaired growth of babies. Also, if you come in contact with a smoker on a daily bases, you could be affected. It could cause asthma, irritation of the eye, airway or throat, infections, and diseases. Some friend they are. I am worried for all who smoke and all who are around them, and I hope that they will realize the dangers of the infatuation. Tobacco use is spreading and harming more and more people. I will continue to be aware and free of the temporary and permanent affects of tobacco and hope that others across the world will strive for a healthier world. 7 2nd Place (Tie) A Smokey Story By Devonne Moore Phoenixville Area Middle School I vividly remember sitting on my grandparents’ screen porch overlooking the tranquil lake, listening to my grandfather gently hum during the final days of his life. I recall we were eating red, gummy Swedish fish, as we spoke of fond memories that we shared together. My grandfather inspired many with his musical talent and his artistic touch. He wrote and published many children’s operas and was also a popular local artist. Although he was a gently passionate man, he made a life-changing decision 40 years ago that cut his life short. James R. Shaw died of lung cancer at the age of 70. Sitting on the porch that day was the last time I would talk with my grandfather before he died. He began smoking as a teenager. It was not unusual to smoke back in that day; in fact, it was quite fashionable in the world of musicians and artists. He smoked cigarettes for 40 years. At one point in his life he realized that his smoking habit might have a deadly result, so he desperately attempted to quit, more than once. He was finally able to put that cigarette down when he was 60 years old, but it was too late. Cancer had begun to spread through his lungs and there was no turning back. In his late 60s, his health deteriorated and his vital organs began to fail. My mother lived with my grandfather through his weakness and experienced his smoking. She remembers that when she was a child, he smoked in the car with the window cracked. But even so, she still recalls the brown smoke-stained leather interior. Fortunately, my mother would never smoke. My grandmother never smoked either, but she suffered by her husband’s side as his health slowly failed. She says that even after he quit, he would always speak of how he would love to light a cigarette. My grandmother believes that his addiction was not only a physical one, but a social one as well. My grandfather taught me a valuable life lesson about how smoking does not only affect you. It causes your family members much pain, too. I still remember the day he died. I was 7 years old and the phone rang. I answered the phone and heard the calm, reassuring voice of my grandmother. She told me that she would like to speak with my parents. My mother was running errands and my father was in the shower. I told my grandmother that I would give them the message. She said, “Your grandfather has passed, dear.” I felt an overwhelming wave of mourning and darkness come over me. Tears rolled down my checks and drenched my distraught face. I ran into my parents’ room, extremely upset, and dropped to my knees on the floor. With every one of my tears that soaked into the carpet, I cherished every memory of him. When my father got out of the shower, he hurried to my side and I whispered, “He’s gone.” I love my grandfather with all of my heart, and I am thankful for the example he personally shared with me about the dangers of smoking. I will never smoke because I understand that smoking can destroy your life and causes an early, painful ending. Surely, my grandfather is proud of my decisions and I have no doubt that he is looking down on me, smiling, as I write this essay. 8 Finalist Untitled By Ellie Delany Phoenixville Area Middle School When I was really young, I didn’t understand smoking or cigarettes. I didn’t understand how they work or what they do to you. I would watch my neighbor, Susie, (then in her 40s) smoke every day. Her husband smoked, too. As I grew up, I learned more about smoking and tobacco. I learned what it can do to you, and how it can hurt you. As I got older, I watched Susie. Watched her spend her life sitting on the front step of a big, gorgeous house, smoking a smelly cigarette. I thought to myself, “Now one day, she’s going to regret all those 8 a.m. smoking sessions.” I was praying she wouldn’t regret it. I was hoping that her daily use of nasty tobacco wasn’t going to harm her blessed life. With three great kids and a great husband, it would be a sin to watch that all go to waste. But it did. After 13 years of smoking every day, it caught up to her. My mom saw Susie at the grocery store one day, in the fruit aisle. She looked very, very weak and frail, despite her young age. She was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer. Stage 3 cancer is considered advanced cancer and is not usually curable. You might think, “Well, your neighbor’s the one dying, so how does that affect you? You’re just watching her.” But it does. It affects me in several ways. It makes me sad and depressed to see somebody I’ve known all my life, someone who used to give me cookies as a little child and whose son was over my house every day playing with my brother, dying a painful death all because of a sick addiction to tobacco. It also frustrates me. It frustrates me because I went to go visit Susie one day and bring her a couple of books. As I walked towards the door, her husband was on the doorstep. Guess what he had to his lips? A cigarette. The woman he loved and married was in their bed, with only a little bit of life left to live because of tobacco, but there he was, still continuing on with smoking. This shows me many things. One: It shows me how BADLY you can get addicted to tobacco. Two: It shows me how much tobacco and cigarettes can hurt you, even kill you. Susie being sick affected me and everyone around her. Just seven years ago, a woman on our street passed away of lung cancer and her husband went into a major depression and never got out of bed. I am hoping the same story won’t happen to my neighbor. 9 3rd Place Guardian Angel By Emory Saia Great Valley Middle School Every puff of smoke that filled the front porch worried me. Would he fall into his friends’ nasty tricks of peer pressure? This question zipped through my mind as I peeked out of the hole of the screen door. Jaden was laughing with his friends, as his friends were lighting up cigarettes and laughing. What angered me the most was that they were clueless – even if Jaden did not handle those cigarettes, he still had a high chance of breathing in secondhand smoke. Mom knew his friends did it. She knew that Bella’s friend did it, too. Mom knew her sweet, innocent little son and daughter could never do it though. One day, Jaden and Bella will thank me for watching over them as if I was their guardian angel. I closed the door as I left to go back downstairs. I heard laughter coming from my sister on the porch so I went back up the stairs quietly. Once again, I peeked out of the hole, and saw Bella holding a Corona beer. She took sips, but that was never enough to get her the slightest bit drunk. Her best friend, Lila, with a cigarette in her hand, spoke loudly and drunkenly, “Hey, Bell. When are we hittin’ the bar for some cigs?” Bella answered inaudibly, “Shhh. As soon as the fam falls asleep.” She put the beer down. She lit up a cigarette. That’s when my mouth dropped. Even though Bella and Jaden were above the smoking age, I was appalled. Jaden and his friends were in the street skateboarding, even though it was about 11:00 at night. Bella and Lila were on the front porch talking and talking while Lila was the only one who continued to smoke. I knew that if Bella continued to use the lung killer they call tobacco, her friends and family would soon alienate her. I screamed into a pillow I grabbed from the leather coach, with anger and force, but it was not quiet enough. Bella heard me and came inside. I hugged her. “Bella, please don’t smoke.” I continued as I balled, “Bella it can kill you. I don’t want my one and only sister to die just because of some foolish mistake. Please sis, do it for me, your guardian angel.” She hugged me so tight in her arms that it felt like the world was on my shoulders, her heart touching mine. I never wanted to let go because I knew that if I did not have any faith in her, no one would. From that day on I have never seen Bella or Lila pick up a cigarette. Just to see that I could make a difference in two people’s lives is so rewarding. If everybody cared as much as I did, then we could stop the people we love from using any form of tobacco. Jaden also heard me crying and ran into the house. I gave him the same speech because I was the only one who was looking out for them. Even if Jaden had never lit a cigarette before, it did not matter; he could have started at anytime. After hearing everything I said to him, he has never used tobacco either. You want to know why? It’s because you have to care. If you give them a reason why you care, then that makes all the difference. Jaden’s friends never supported him, because they did it. My mother and father were 10 never aware of their sweet daughter smoking, and it was not my business to tell them. Bella’s, Lila’s, and Jaden’s lives changed just because one 12-year-old girl stood up for what is right. If someday in the future Bella wants to tell my parents, then so be it, but all I am worried about is today, my safety and the ones I love. Hopefully my story will impact you or one of your loved ones’ lives. So share your feelings, because wherever you look, you have a guardian angel. 11 Health Effects of Tobacco By Grace Paik Great Valley Middle School Before letting a detrimental cigarette enter anyone's delicate, unique body, think about the devastating illnesses lurking in that one small, hazardous stick. Did you know cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 deadly chemicals including 69 of which are known to cause cancer? Despite knowing this, many people in America still breathe in this smoke, exposing it to their fragile lungs. Numerous diseases are caused just by one small threat. Diseases or illnesses that are caused by smoking tobacco are countless. About 8.6 million people living in the United States who smoke tobacco have at least one serious illness. One disease that is caused by smoking is lung cancer, which is a disease of uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Ninety percent of individuals who are diagnosed with lung cancer got this terrible disease from smoking tobacco. Another disease caused by smoking is cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in the United States. A third disease caused by smoking is chronic bronchitis, which is caused when tobacco smoke irritates the airways of the lung. Emphysema is also caused when the supporting structures of the lungs are damaged. Other diseases caused by smoking tobacco include coronary heart disease, stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm, acute myeloid leukemia and countless others. If tobacco causes all of these harmful diseases, why do people still waste their time to damage their bodies? Smoking tobacco can cause harm by exposing people to diseases that could easily kill them. Here in America, it is estimated that about 440,000 people die from smoking tobacco each year. Around the globe, it is estimated that around 5 million people die from smoking tobacco per year. Many of the chemicals in cigarettes, like nicotine and cyanide, can kill in the right amounts. Each cigarette a person smokes takes 5 to 20 minutes off his or her life. Make the right choice and say no to drugs and tobacco. 12 Finalist The Big Tobacco Industry By Hannah Weisman Charles F. Patton Middle School The Big Tobacco industry uses several devious tactics and strategies to increase the use of tobacco without violating the restrictions passed in the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. This agreement, between 46 states and the four main U.S tobacco companies, regulates restrictions on advertising to the states to protect Americans from cancer or death from tobacco use. One of these tactics is presenting the use of tobacco products in Hollywood movies. According to the Web site http://www.nothanksbigtobacco.org, almost 75 percent of G-, PG-, and PG-13-rated movies in the past five years contain images of smoking. The movies sometimes promote the same themes when showing actors smoking; the cigarette can be associated with wealth, happiness, beauty and power. Hardly ever are Hollywood stars disgusted by the cigarette or shown becoming ill from the effects of smoking in the scene of the movie. According to http://www.nothanksbigtobacco.org, teens exposed to actors smoking in movies are three times more likely to try smoking than teens who aren’t often exposed to images of smoking. Personally, I have seen commercials and movies where a product interests me, such as Apple iPod commercials. The Apple iPod commercials have upbeat music playing, bright colors, and after watching them, I feel more likely to buy their products. The movie industry is using the same concept by putting subtle cigarette advertisements in movies appealing to teens and young people. Another technique used by Big Tobacco to gain customers is sponsoring organizations such as theater groups, art organizations and educational groups, and giving large donations of money to charities. The Big Tobacco industry also sponsors organizations that support children or women. In addition, tobacco companies use commercial sponsorship to promote their products through other companies and organizations, such as NASCAR, an auto-racing organization. The Big Tobacco industry sponsors and donates to these organizations because they are trying to portray themselves as decent community members instead of the cancer-selling marketers that they really are. The 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement does not allow Big Tobacco to advertise directly to children through advertisements in magazines and newspapers. However, the Big Tobacco industry continues to advertise in magazines and newspapers without targeting its products specifically towards children by advertising in magazines read by both children and adults. According to http://www.nothanksbigtobacco.org, Big Tobacco is only allowed to advertise in magazines of an adult readership of 85 percent or more, but children still read these magazines and the cigarette ads they might contain. It is upsetting that we let tobacco companies continue to advertise to children. According to http://www.kidshealth.org, each day in America approximately 4,400 children under the age of 18 try smoking and many of those people who try smoking each day are influenced to smoke through advertising. Even though there were regulations passed in 1998 that limited the advertisement of tobacco, the Big Tobacco industry continues to get its products through to children. 13 2nd Place (Tie) In Memory of Mom By Hope Corry Great Valley Middle School Some people don’t know the effects of tobacco. Even if you don’t use it, it can still affect you. I know this because a few years ago, my mom died of lung cancer. I loved her dearly, but even at a young age, I knew she could die from smoking. I’d heard from friends and other family members that it was a horrible thing for people to do to their bodies, but when I asked my mom why she did it, she dodged the question. She had been smoking for almost 20 years. I was 8 when she told me and my sister that she had lung cancer. I will always remember that day. We walked into my mom’s psychiatrist’s office and we all sat down. When she told us, my sister walked out of the room. I just sat there, having no idea what was happening. Then my mom told me that she was sick, and there was a big chance that she wouldn’t make it. I remember crying my eyes out, and I distinctly remember the silent ride home. My sister and my mom became distant, but I wanted to remember the last times I had with her. She decided that instead of losing her hair from the treatment, that she would just go to the barber shop and shave it off. She seemed to be very positive for someone who might die soon, but I just knew that deep inside, she was scared. I was scared, too. Every Wednesday, during the summer, I would go with my mom to get chemotherapy; every Sunday, to radiation. After her radiation treatment was totally finished, there was a bell for her to ring. I told her that I would ring it with her. On the day of her last treatment, I didn’t help her ring it. I just said, “You did this by yourself. I just helped.” I felt so bad that I couldn’t help her like she helped me when I got sick. On top of all of it, my mom still smoked. She didn’t stop just because she had cancer. It makes me wonder: If she hadn’t smoked, would she be able to look back at this with me? Would she be here right now with me? On November 15, 2005, my dad got a phone call and rushed out of dinner. My sister and I went to sleep that night, only to be woken up by my dad at midnight. We headed to the hospital and started crying because we knew this could only mean one thing. We stayed at the hospital all night. I felt so helpless. My pop-pop said she was going to a better place, and I got so mad because I thought he was just giving up on her. The next day at 11:15, my mom died. It was three days before my ninth birthday. Things would be so different if she hadn’t smoked – I just know it. The hardest thing was her funeral. My friends were there, but something was off. I just wanted my mom to be there holding my hand and telling me it was ok. Even though I knew it wasn’t. She was gone. Never to be seen again. The priest said, “Maybe God wanted her more than you.” Instantly, I ran out of the room. That was a lie. I loved my mom, and if tobacco wasn’t in play, she’d be here. Tobacco is a dangerous and deadly drug. Cigarettes, cigars and second-hand smoke can and will be deadly. I don’t understand why anyone would put something like that into his or her body, but it’s not my choice. I know that peer pressure is out there, but my mom will always have a stronger influence on me. I will never smoke or do drugs or 14 anything that can kill me. If I even think about it, my mom will be the first person I think of, and I will feel ashamed. I’ll feel like I’m acting as if she meant nothing to me, and that will never happen. 15 4th Place The Day My Life Changed By Jack Halliday Great Valley Middle School The date was May 13, 2007. It was the day my life changed. It started off as a bright and cheerful Mother’s Day morning. Everyone was happy, especially my mother. She already had her breakfast in bed and opened her presents. We were downstairs at the kitchen table enjoying our breakfast. After I’d finished, I cleared my plate and started on my way downstairs to play video games for a little bit. But as I was on the first step, my dad called me back into the kitchen because he had a family announcement. I thought nothing of it and walked gracefully back over to them. Adam and Luke, my two brothers, were still eating, so we waited for them to finish. After they did, it was silent for a little. Then my dad said something I will never forget. “I got a call from England late last night with the news that your granddad has, unfortunately, passed away.” Right then, it felt like someone just ripped my heart out of my chest. The same heart that was happy 20 seconds before. The tears came out of me before I could think. I didn’t know what to do. It was like my dad’s words were a vacuum that just sucked everything out of me, leaving me with nothing but darkness and anger. It took a while for everything to settle down because the moment was just horrible. Nobody talked for about 15 minutes. Finally, my dad spoke up by saying we should go for a walk. We ended up doing so. I said nothing the whole time. All I did was think. I looked around me, and searched my mind for reasoning. How could the world keep going on like normal? I thought as I looked around at the birds chirping and the neighbors laughing. My granddad, my role model, one of the only people in the world I trust just died, and the world doesn’t even care?! I was so confused. My mind was a battlefield, with emotions fighting reality, and yet I kept walking. Step after step after step. That walk was the longest 10-minute walk of my life. The rest of that day and week, there was no joy, no good times, and there were no video games. All there was was loneliness and depression. My granddad died at age 65 because of smoking. It didn’t just affect him, but it affected everyone around him, too. Now, whenever I wake up, I wake up without my granddad. Whenever I go to school, I go with the knowledge that my granddad isn’t in this world with me anymore. And now, as I grow up, he won’t be there to see me. He won’t see his grandchild learn to drive, or get married and start his own family, or get his first job. But, I never stop thinking about him. And the last lesson my granddad ever taught me was what to not do. And that is to not smoke, because my granddad proved what will happen if you do. My granddad, Jim Halliday, was the best man I ever knew, but smoking still got the best of him, which is why no matter what happens, I will never ever make the same mistake that he did. 16 My Concerns about the Health Effects of Tobacco By James Fields Phoenixville Area Middle School About 38,000 Americans die from secondhand smoke every year. This includes babies who die from crib death, husbands or wives of smokers who die from heart attacks or lung cancer from their spouses’ smoke, and children who die from untreatable pneumonia. These deaths could be prevented if parents stopped smoking in the home. Thousands of workers die from being exposed to smoke in the workplace. In addition to deaths, there are millions of Americans made sick or otherwise affected by secondhand smoke. Tobacco is a green, leafy plant that is grown in warm climates. After it is picked, it is dried, ground up, and used in different ways. Cigarettes have 4,000 different chemicals in them. Nicotine is the worst. It is the drug that makes cigarettes and other tobacco products addictive. Once we smoke, chew, or sniff tobacco, nicotine goes into our bloodstream, and our body wants more. About 3,500 children and teens start smoking every day in America. This drug puts pressure on almost every kid in America. This drug can lead to serious consequences like becoming addicted, and if you are a parent, your smoking can be hazardous to your friends’ and family’s health. Studies show that 1 in 3 children live with a smoker, and one study showed that 17 percent of children living with smokers experienced food insecurity, lack of access to sufficient food. Smokers use a lot of their money to buy this drug and cannot put food on the table for their kids. This drug scares many people around the world no matter what their age. There are many illnesses you can get. Regardless of the tobacco product used, there is an increased risk of cancer, strokes and heart disease. Did you know that the smoking rate is higher for people with less education and lower income? And 1 out of 5 deaths in the U.S. are due to smoking or the use of tobacco. Also, smokers smoke because of stress or discomfort. One of the ways young people get influenced is by the media. The media show so many things that pressure kids and teens to smoke this dangerous drug. Seventy-five percent of music videos try to show people that smoking is just another cool thing to do, and if you do it, you will be cool. Older kids pressure younger kids to smoke because they say, “If you smoke you will be cool.” In summary, tobacco is a dangerous drug. And, with all the nicotine in it, it will turn your whole world upside down. As soon as you inhale that or even take one or two puffs, you are making the biggest mistake of your life. Eventually you will become addicted, and although the first time you might think it is cool, eventually you will hate it. It doesn’t matter if 75 percent of music videos try to show people that smoking is cool, it is not. So listen to me and all the other people who think this drug is horrible. Don’t smoke or do drugs. 17 Big Tobacco Companies By Jamie Connors Phoenixville Area Middle School 438,000. That is the number of Americans who die each year from the effects of smoking. Many of them are very young. 38,000. That is the number of deaths from secondhand smoke each year in the United States. 13. That is the average age of a new smoker in the United States. There are chemicals such as nail polish remover and rocket fuel in cigarettes. The craziest thing is that, after doctors have warned and warned people that smoking can kill you, about 46 million people smoke in the United States. I can’t even imagine what their lungs look like. Some of the worst companies I think I have ever seen on the market today are the tobacco companies. To me, they are heartless and cruel to their customers because they freely let them buy this killing machine. Across the United States, tobacco companies ship killer after killer out to addicted bystanders. On average, the tobacco companies make 6 billion dollars a year, spending 12.6 million of it a day on advertising. In my opinion, these companies sound like they want people to die. Some tobacco companies target women and girls by portraying the cigarettes as making you thin and beautiful, but really they’re just killing you. They lure in teens by having bright colors or things that grab their attention. They sometimes even put them in magazines that teens may read. Even in stores, cigarettes are put in plain sight near popular candies or other popular teen interests. In my opinion, the tobacco companies are very desperate, so they’re targeting innocent people and luring them in with proposals. It is too much of a risk to be toying with people’s lives. So, before you make the choice that will destroy your life forever, think about what it will do to you, and what it will do to others. 18 Kick the Stick By Jennifer Saint Joseph School As a young eighth grader, you might not expect me to care so much about my health, and I have to say that’s probably the truth. But in today’s society something does concern me. I am here to inform you about tobacco. As Mark Twain once said, “It is easier to stay out than get out.” First of all, you’re not only affecting your own life. By involving yourself with tobacco, innocent family members, friends and the public around you are suffering. Did you know that secondhand smoke can result in serious medical conditions such as lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and airway, eye or throat irritation? How much fun can you really get out of a high-risk cancer stick? Effects of smokeless tobacco (like chewing tobacco) range from white patches on your tongue and gums, called leukoplakia, to various oral cancers. You enter this addiction at your own risk. A National Health Interview Survey from 2006 shows that in the United States alone, about 26.2 million men and 20.9 million women smoke. In one cigarette, you will find about 4,000 chemicals. Of course, nicotine is one component. This chemical compound is the key to smoking addiction; it reaches the brain within 10 seconds. So look at this from the perspective of Mark Twain and just don’t try it. You don’t want to be part of the 20.8 percent of adults in the United States who smoke cigarettes. Do yourself a favor and kick the stick. 19 My Concerns and Fears about Tobacco By Jesse Sklaroff Phoenixville Area Middle School I am concerned that every day more than 3,500 kids try smoking in the United States. I fear most kids don't understand the dangers of tobacco use. Tobacco can cause cancer, heart disease and lung disease, but people continue to smoke and use tobacco. Kids who breathe secondhand smoke suffer respiratory problems, bronchitis, ear infections and asthma attacks. If you are around someone who is smoking, go outside! The smoke from the burning tip of the tobacco product and the smoke exhaled are dangerous. Secondhand smoke can cause serious diseases and you could die at an early age. It is important to get involved in activities and understand that smoking is bad for your health. Chewing tobacco and smoking don't make you look cool. Smokers have bad breath and smelly clothes. I am glad people around the world are speaking up for smoke-free air. Smoke-free laws protect our health. If we encourage each other and walk away from friends who smoke, we will have a better future. 20 Kick Butts Day Essay By John Cappiello Phoenixville Area Middle School This is about tobacco and what it can do to you. There are people that make some bad decisions. This might affect them later in life. I will tell you what tobacco can do to you and the people who can help you make the right decisions. Tobacco has many health effects. It can destroy your lungs and cause lung cancer. There are people who have asthma who can be affected very badly by secondhand smoke. Also, tobacco causes many kinds of cancers, one of the reasons why it’s so dangerous. Tobacco users also have some of the highest death rates in America. The big tobacco companies do a lot of things to make tobacco use look like a lot of fun. They aim a lot of marketing to adults and teens. Their industries make a lot of money because so many people smoke. They also never show the bad side of tobacco use and what it could do to you. There are many people who will try to protect you from doing tobacco. Your elected officials always tell you the bad side of doing tobacco and why you shouldn’t do it. Tobacco control can take place in schools by making posters and pictures of how tobacco could affect you and hanging them around the school. You shouldn’t do any kind of tobacco. A lot of people die from doing tobacco. So if you ever consider doing tobacco you should think about it first. Also, never fall for peer pressure – that is really bad. I hope you think twice about doing tobacco. 21 My Thoughts about Big Tobacco By Jordan Paskings Graystone Academy Charter School Tobacco is a big issue today. Millions of people die each year from lung cancer. More and more death rates are starting to rise each year because of tobacco. It is really taking a chunk of the earth’s population away. I don’t think tobacco should be legal and here’s why. Tobacco use and smoking are very dangerous addictions which cause a wide variety of diseases, cancer and death. The vast majority of tobacco users and smokers become hooked when they are children. During this time period they are easily influenced by peer pressure and advertising. Once hooked, the majority of tobacco users become hopelessly addicted. This concerns me because my aunt died from lung cancer a couple of years ago. I don’t want to see anybody else die from lung cancer in my family. I think kids who suffer from the effects of tobacco have it the worst. Just seeing your parents smoke nonstop and then inhaling secondhand smoke at the same time is awful. Nobody wants to inhale secondhand smoke every day for about three hours straight. And secondhand smoke causes about 38,000 deaths in the United States each year. I think it should be illegal to smoke, or illegal to smoke around children, because killing a child with secondhand smoke is about the same as committing murder. Millions of kids suffer because of their parents’ addictions to smoking. And that just doesn’t seem right. 22 My Thoughts about Big Tobacco By Joseph Saint Joseph School Do you know what used to be in every restaurant you walked into? A smoking and non-smoking section. Even though they were supposed to be separated, smoke always found its way to me. I personally think tobacco should be banned in all public places and if you interact with children. Did you know that every eight seconds someone in the world dies from a tobacco-related illness or disease, and that smoking is the number one preventable cause of premature death in the United States? Tobacco has been around for many years, and it should be stopped, but the question is: Can the economy handle it? Tobacco is reaching kids my age and younger, not to mention the nonsmokers as well. The medical effects alone should convince people to stop smoking. Even if people want to quit, it's hard because they are already addicted. If concern for their health doesn't stop people from smoking, the cost should because this year the tax on tobacco has gone up dramatically. So now the cost is weakening smokers’ and chewers’ pockets. The only ones that win in the tobacco field are the Big Tobacco companies, because they make all the money. If profits fall, all they have to do is advertise a little harder and profits will roll in. But the tobacco companies do employ a lot of people and is a huge part of the economy, as it’s one of the only industries doing well right now. There are a lot of smokers, but today more then ever the smokers are kids our age. Even if we don’t smoke, we can still be exposed to secondhand smoke, and we’re at risk for all the diseases that can develop more easily, like lung cancer and asthma. Every day about 3,500 kids start smoking in the United States, most of them between the ages of 10 and 18. These kids account for 90 percent of all new smokers. In fact, 90 percent of all adults state that they first started smoking as a teenager. With all this said, I truly believe that smoking in public and around kids should be banned and that these Big Tobacco companies should be monitored in their advertising. I think that it is this advertising that is getting kids as well as adults to smoke and causing all these health risks. This is one of the biggest problems in the world today, and we need to work against tobacco use. 23 My Concerns about Tobacco By Julia Liu Great Valley Middle School Tobacco is bad! I believe that everyone knows that, yet thousands of people, including kids, are trying it every day! One puff is all it takes, and within seconds, nicotine gets to the brain. Most young people end up trying it again, and pretty soon they’re addicted. Like many other people, I am very concerned about secondhand smoke and diseases caused by tobacco. I don’t think it’s fair that if nonsmokers breathe in smoke, they have a risk of getting cancer. We all know that tobacco causes many diseases like cancer and heart disease. I am concerned about this because this shortens people’s life spans. We are working towards longer life spans, not shorter ones! Smokers are often very sickly and have weak immune systems. It’s not good for society if people that were once useful and smart start smoking and becoming useless. The problem is, some smokers might want to quit, but they can’t because they’re just too addicted. If they try to tear themselves away, their bodies’ crave the nicotine, and it becomes extremely hard to overcome those urges. If smokers don’t get the nicotine, it feels like their bodies aren’t functioning properly. This is a major concern because if they don’t like how they feel when they try to quit, they may continue smoking. In summary, I am very concerned about the health effects of tobacco and how it’s been affecting people around the world. As I mentioned above, tobacco causes diseases like cancer, heart disease, lung disease, stroke and emphysema. Tobacco can even make people poor, because they spend so much money on cigarettes and health care! 24 Finalist It Is Not All About You By Justin Herget Great Valley Middle School Tobacco: basically a poison, yet it is commonly used by everyday American citizens. It is also like a drug, as the nicotine in it makes it extremely difficult to quit smoking. Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away because he smoked. My grandfather probably could have had another good 10 years added on to the end of his life if he had not smoked. He smoked for 55 years, and started at the early age of 14. When you are younger, it is so much easier to get addicted to smoking. Back when he was a teenager, they did not know about the dangers of smoking tobacco. Now, we know about these risks, and it is foolish to do such a thing. When someone tries smoking, it is basically asking for cancer. Why on earth would teenagers want to try smoking, if they know it is going to harm them and do them no good? The answer is peer pressure. Peer pressure: It is almost like a drug itself. It is extremely difficult to fight it. Some teenagers will do anything to fit in, anything from doing someone’s homework for them to smoking. Teachers or parents can say to students, “Do not do drugs!” but at the end of the day it is going to be the student’s decision, not the adult’s. Some children will get sucked into smoking just because they are at a party and their friends are smoking. Then they will get addicted and they will screw the rest of their lives up. The whole reason why these kids’ lives are screwed up comes back to peer pressure. My advice is to not even think about smoking. If individuals do think about smoking, my advice to them is to just think about the other people that are important in their lives. My grandfather smoked and it was torturous to know that he passed away. Nobody wants to go through what I went through. So please, think twice about the consequences of smoking. They may not only affect you, but the other people around you, too. 25 True Story By Kayla Phoenixville Area Middle School My pop-pop smokes a lot and he doesn’t know that he is affecting other people. When he is done smoking he has such a strong odor that it is unpleasant for us to be near him. We either need to ask him to leave or spray something to cover up the odor. We really don’t want to hurt his feelings, but the secondhand smoke is not good for us. It is really bad to breathe in the smoke. Secondhand smoke can kill us. The thing that really bothers me is that he stills smoke when he knows that smoking is very bad for your lungs. He needs help so he can live a longer, healthier life. It affects us and him when he smokes. When he smokes and comes back into the house, everyone asks him to go back outside because of the terrible smell. When my cousins and I say goodbye and then he tries to kiss us, we pull away because his breath smells like smoke. When we do that, I think that we hurt his feelings a lot . . . and that hurts my feelings. He tried to stop and we where happy, but smoking is so addicting that he couldn’t stop. Then he returned to his old routine and we were so disappointed. We wish he could have been stronger. My opinion is that smoking has ruined his life and ours. It is very sad that he smokes. I believe that he needs to get help so that he can stop! I don’t think anyone should smoke. People who smoke will live shorter and lonelier lives because no one will want to be around them. Just think: If you do start to smoke, later on you will wish you had never started. In conclusion, I think that no one should smoke. It would make the world a better place. Plus, I hope my pop-pop will learn that he needs to stop. He also needs to know that we are being tough on him only to let him know what will happen if he doesn’t stop smoking. I hope he can get help as soon as possible. 26 Finalist My Tobacco Thoughts By Kenneth Ramondo Great Valley Middle School What is in tobacco? That’s the number one question for me. According to http://smokefreedom.net, tobacco contains 4,000 chemicals and 69 of them cause cancer. Some of the most disgusting chemicals in cigarettes are arsenic (a poison), ammonia, acetone (nail polish remover), methanol, DDT (a chemical to kill bugs), naphthalene (found in mothballs) and hydrogen cyanide (a poison). If that has not made you sick to your stomach yet, then think about this. Do you know where you would find some of these toxins? Believe it or not, in the air around a toxic waste dump. When you use tobacco, you are inhaling these chemicals that cause cancer into your lungs and blood system. I wonder why the tobacco industry does not just tell us to go to our local waste dump and inhale. It would be a lot cheaper for the smoker, but boy would it hurt the money the tobacco companies make off those who inhale those toxins. They want people to smoke. They try to make it look cool. The tobacco companies sell their products to younger people because the younger people tend to get more addicted to it faster than adults. Though their advertising has decreased, they still get adults and kids to keep smoking. The industry knows how addictive it is. The tobacco companies make a fortune off a product that is addictive and kills people. If someone knowingly harms another person, it is murder. Yet, the same rules do not apply to this industry. Let’s “nip this in the butt.” Send a message to Big Tobacco that their profits are another person’s death sentence. 27 My Pop-pop Neely By Lauren Neely Fred S. Engle Middle School It was about 10 years ago when my Pop-pop Neely died of lung cancer from smoking tobacco. The cancer eventually spread to his brain and caused him to die. He started smoking at the age of 14 or 15 and died in his 50s. When he was diagnosed, I was about 1-and-a-half years old. At the time, he had four grandkids. He also had three of his own children. Over the years after his death, he gained two more grandkids. I know that he would want to be here so he could meet and love all of his grandkids. I know the rest of my family and I all miss him a lot and love him. I don’t have a very good memory of him. I will always remember going over to visit him and my mom-mom. The best part was I got to see my grandparents and my poppop would always have NECCO candy wafers for me! And when it was nice outside, he would push me in my airplane swing in the front yard. Losing a loved one to tobacco isn’t easy! My pop-pop died at a young age from smoking. I know that if he didn’t smoke the way he did, he would be in this world with me today! 28 Tobacco is Wacko By Madeline Hoot Great Valley Middle School Tobacco has affected me in a negative way. My grandmother died when I was 6 years old. This was very hard for me because I did not understand why she would do something that would kill her. I was not mad, but I was confused and felt bad because tobacco took over her life. I wish someone could have helped her. I am now 12 years old and I wish “mum mum” could be here to see me grow up. I miss her so much; I still have a nightgown from the last time I saw her. Every time I look at it, it just reminds me of her and how tobacco took her life. It also reminds me that I should never smoke. Neither of my parents smoke and I am glad because they will be able to see me and my kids grow up. I think about “mum mum” all the time. I wish she were still here and I wish she had never smoked. Because of her, I will never have the urge to smoke or do drugs. 29 My Concerns about the Health Effects of Tobacco By Matt Phoenixville Area Middle School I am very concerned about the health effects of tobacco. The diseases one can get from using tobacco are numerous and the smoke pollution is endless. I fear that if we can’t stop all or most of tobacco smoking, our planet will become uninhabitable. I am disappointed in our country for not making all tobacco marketing illegal. I am also disappointed with the evil people who started the industries. How they target young adults and children. How they kill thousands of people and don’t go to jail. But that is another story. I am also concerned for the innocent people who are being killed by smoking. For example, 3,000 people in the United States die each year from lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke. And secondhand smoke causes at least 38,000 deaths in the United States each year. There are also the babies. Exposure to secondhand smoke causes roughly 1,900 babies to die from sudden infant death syndrome each year in the U.S. Did you know that there are about 69 carcinogens in cigarettes? It’s no wonder that 443,000 Americans die each year from smoking or illnesses related to smoking. That’s more than AIDS, murder, drunk driving, and alcohol abuse put together! 30 5th Place Big Tobacco Shouldn’t Be Big By Meaghan Young Lionville Middle School “CUT! Why don’t you look like you’re having fun? We’re trying to make money here! Do the bit by the ocean again, and make it look like you’re having the time of your life smoking that cigarette!” When you see a tobacco or cigarette ad or commercial, it looks like the people in them are having a great time, and they look great, too. But that is definitely the opposite of what happens when people have an addiction to nicotine. All it takes is that first cigarette and you’re on your way to having bad breath, yellow teeth, bad lungs, and very few people who want to hang out with you . . . just like many people in our country who see those ads but don’t have the facts on what tobacco can do to you. Many people don’t really know just how addicting cigarettes can be. When they see an ad, they say, “Look how much fun they’re having. They are so cool. I’ll just try one, and be done!” Soon after their first is done, they say, “What’s one more?” Pretty soon, they’re smoking the whole pack, and then buying another and another. And they can’t stop, even if they want to, because of the nicotine. So many people are ruined by tobacco and cigarettes. They smell bad, have terrible teeth, and even worse lungs. About 440,000 people die a year from smoking. When people smoke, they’re not just putting themselves in danger. Many people get sick or even die from secondhand smoke. Picture an old man, sitting on his couch, looking very sad. His whole life was torn apart by cigarettes. He has a breathing tank, because he is no longer able to breathe on his own. He’s been trying to quit for over 30 years, but you can’t even imagine how hard it is to quit smoking. When this man was younger he learned, like all of us, to not smoke, but he was persuaded by ads just to try one. And that one ruined his life. He stood out in the rain and snow to have his hourly cigarette. Now he can barely move. It’s so sad to think how many lives are torn apart by tobacco. We all have the choice about tobacco. And we all know what the right choice is. If everyone would just not try a cigarette, 440,000 more people would live in the United States every year! Such a simple thing could make the world a better, healthier place. Think about it! 31 Finalist Shut Down the Companies Already! By Paige Rodgers Great Valley Middle School When someone asks me about cigarettes my first response is always “why?” “Why” do companies even sell cigarettes if they know that they can harm people? “Why” do people start using cigarettes? “Why” doesn’t someone stop the production of cigarettes? “Why” do people think it is cool to smoke? “Why” can’t everyone just see that cigarettes will kill them? Do they want to die? I can not tell you every emotion that I feel towards cigarettes, but I will tell you some emotions. I feel mad, disappointed, frustrated, sad, angry . . . I can go on! I wish that someone could just stop the production of cigarettes. Yes, I know that people make tons of money working in this industry, but is it really worth it? They work all day for a company that eventually kills people. How would you feel supporting a company that targets young kids and eventually kills them? I know I would not like to work there. You may be thinking, “Well it is the people’s choice to smoke.” Yes, I agree . . . but isn’t there another reason? “Why” does the company make the cigarette boxes so colorful? To attract people, of course, young people who do not know much about the hazards of smoking and can easily become addicted. That is how it starts. Someone young tries one cigarette, then another, then another, and another, thinking it is cool and that they will fit in with the popular crowd. Soon they are addicted and cannot stop. Therefore, they keep buying more cigarettes. Then the people that own the company get more money. I do not like the fact that people gain money when other people die from their product. It is mean, rude and cruel. Just shut the company down already! Then the people who are addicted can quit. The next generation may have a brighter future; they may even live longer! I think the world could really benefit from it. 32 Finalist Untitled By Peggy Findeison Saint Joseph School When I was just 7 years old, my dad was diagnosed with larynx cancer. Larynx cancer is cancer of the throat, caused by smoking or excessive use of alcohol. If you smoke and drink heavily you are at very high risk of getting this type of cancer. People over 55 are the ones most likely to get this cancer; my dad was only 50 when he was diagnosed. He really only had two options: get surgery and live talking though a hole in his neck, or . . . die. I was too young to understand what was really happening. All I knew was that it was caused by smoking, and that my dad might die. I still don’t really know what happened, but he is fine now and the cancer is completely gone. I’m so lucky that I still have my dad and that the cancer is completely gone. I’m still finding it hard to believe that I almost lost him. The larynx controls breathing, swallowing and talking. When you have surgery for larynx cancer you get your voice box removed and you get a stoma. A stoma is a hole in your neck where you breathe and it’s how you can talk. You can’t go swimming after you get the surgery because it’s very dangerous if you get water in it. When he takes a shower, my dad uses what I think looks like a plastic bib to cover his stoma so water doesn’t get in it. Since my dad was diagnosed, he quit smoking for good, and he lives a completely normal, happy life. Larynx cancer is a life-changing event; it took my dad this long to realize what a terrible thing smoking is. I’ve realized it. Have you? 33 Tobacco Awareness for the World By Praveen Prabhu Lionville Middle School “For thy sake, tobacco, I would do anything but die,” quoted Charles Lamb. There are many effects of tobacco in the world. Many people die or get serious diseases by smoking tobacco or just by being exposed to secondhand smoke. There are 1.1 billion smokers in the world today, and it is expected to be 1.6 billion by 2025. Approximately 10 million cigarettes are purchased per minute. Therefore, people do not understand the effects of smoking tobacco. They look for their own pleasure and do not realize the harsh effects of smoking tobacco. When people start smoking tobacco, they cannot stop because they are heavily addicted. Nicotine, the main drug in tobacco, is one of the most heavily used addictive drugs in the United States. The ingestion of nicotine results in an almost immediate “kick” because a discharge of epinephrine from the adrenal cortex happens. Because of this action, the central nervous system (brain) gets stimulated. Other endocrine glands get stimulated, which causes a sudden release of glucose. This stimulation causes depression, which makes the user of tobacco addicted. There are many short-term effects of smoking tobacco. As I said before, nicotine is the most heavily used addictive drug used in the United States. Nicotine also has other horrible consequences. Nicotine causes a short-term increase in blood pressure, heart rate, and the flow of blood from the heart. It causes the arteries to narrow, and carbon monoxide causes decreased ability of the blood to carry oxygen throughout the body. This creates an imbalance in the cells’ demand for oxygen and the amount of oxygen the blood is able to supply. These are some of the short-term effects of smoking tobacco, but we still have not talked about the long list of long-term effects. There are many long-term effects of tobacco. Smoking tobacco can cause chronic lung disease, coronary heart disease and stroke. It can also cause cancer of the lungs, larynx, esophagus, mouth and bladder. Cancer of the cervix, pancreas and kidneys can also happen. Smoking tobacco causes coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. Smoking tobacco can also double a person’s risk for stroke and can cause abdominal aortic aneurysm. Not only does smoking tobacco cause problems in the main parts of the body, but it can also harm the teeth. It can harm teeth by starting tooth decay, tooth abrasion and tooth abrasion. Scientists proved that about 69 chemicals in tobacco smoke cause cancer. Nonsmokers can also be affected by secondhand smoke, or ETS. ETS stands for environmental tobacco smoke. 3,000 nonsmoking Americans die of lung cancer and about 300,000 American children suffer from lower respiratory problems each year. Is it right to satisfy one person’s needs and not care about the thousands of children who are dying because of tobacco? These are the long-term effects of smoking tobacco. That is all I have to say about tobacco and all its effects to the body and the mind. In this essay, I was speaking directly to the people who are about to go to the counter and pick up a pack of tobacco. I was just saying that fulfilling one’s needs and harming 300,000 innocent children is not the right or proper act to do. Ten minutes of smoking tobacco can cause severe problems that can last for a lifetime. Who wants cancer? Tobacco can damage the brain, heart, lungs, etc. If the brain is totally damaged, then 34 there is nothing a person can do. Instead of all these effects coming after smoking tobacco, why can’t we just stop smoking? This is what I wanted to say to the people who are about to smoke and I will just hope and pray that smoking tobacco will stop. 35 What Tobacco Really Does By Ryan Bramer Avon Grove Charter School Tobacco. Is it just simply a word or is it a "cool thing?” Maybe it's a cry for help. Could it be that people smoke and use tobacco only because they are neglected and need something to help them make it through the day? Why do they turn to tobacco? They clearly know it doesn't help them. It hurts them. It hurts them in ways that nobody can even imagine. They're not just killing themselves, but they're killing their families too. Let's write down some facts about tobacco, shall we? 1. There is a very high chance of getting lung cancer. 2. Tobacco kills. 3. Other people don't like seeing lives thrown away. 4. It's not cool what-so-ever. There are all sorts of diseases you can get from tobacco: Take cancer, for one. There are tons of cancers, including oral cancers, which a person can get from using tobacco. I can't go into all of them because there are a lot of them. You can get periodontal disease which is when your gums recede and you lose your teeth. My grandfather suffered from this disease. It wasn't pretty. When someone who is very close to you gets a bad disease, you can't help but cry. Something just sets a spark in you and you think, "Ouch, that hurts; I think I should be sad.” Nobody likes when that happens. Yet not everything in life is good and blissful. What I'm trying to get across is that tobacco is bad and it always will be. It’s not just a bad behavior, but it's horrible for your health, too. Cancer is probably the worst disease anyone in the entire world can obtain. Sometimes we don't mean to get involved with tobacco. Well, if you didn't mean to, then why did you? To get right down to the point, we all know that tobacco is bad for your health and growth. Maybe one day we will all move forward from this evil world full of tobacco. Tobacco can also cause your fingers and fingernails to turn a yellowish color. Now, don't tell me that doesn't sound disgusting! Who wants somebody to touch them with nasty yellow fingers? Tobacco also turns your teeth yellow and makes your skin more wrinkled. I honestly would not want to see somebody teased because of this, so kids shouldn't do tobacco. Tobacco makes your hair and breath smell, too. That's just nasty in every way possible. To close this essay, I would just like to say that I find tobacco to be the worst kind of anything in the world. 36 My Story By Ryan Gyuris Phoenixville Area Middle School Tobacco has impacted me directly in many ways. My grandma died when I was 10 years old because of cancer. She died because she smoked so many cigarettes during her life, and she finally got cancer. She fought cancer for two years and then the cancer went away. Then four months later the cancer struck back full force. She went through chemotherapy and other painful treatments. She started to lose her hair from the chemo. I remember she told me that she felt so sick she just wanted to die. I felt so bad. It started to affect her brain. She couldn’t remember my name when she was with me. My grandma then died. I think that tobacco is very wrong. Tobacco products should be banned from the United States of America. So many people die each year from tobacco and cancer. About 440,000 Americans die each year from tobacco-related causes – that is a lot. Tobacco companies have to realize what they’re doing to America and the world. 37 How Tobacco Has Impacted My Life By Sydni Phoenixville Area Middle School In my life so far, tobacco has negatively affected me. Some of my family members smoke, and when I am around them, I wish I wasn’t there. My dad has smoked most of my life. He has tried so hard to quit, but still has not been able to. Whenever he doesn’t have any cigarettes, he is mean and not any fun to be around. He has smoked so much that he doesn’t have enough money to pay for food, a house, taxes, and child support for my brother and me. It makes me worry that he will die at such an early age that he won’t be around when I am growing up. I worry he will die from smoking. It makes me hurt and cry on the inside. It has impacted me because I am always around smoke when I am with him, and so it is even making my health worse and at risk. Even when I tell him how I feel about his smoking, it seems that he is not paying any attention or that he does not even really care. I hate being around him because he is such a bad role model for my brother and me. My Grandmom Coyne died from lung cancer because she smoked too much. Most of the people who are in my family have smoked at some time in their lives. They have all quit except my dad. Smoking has impacted my family and friends, but mostly me. This is my life story about how tobacco has directly impacted me. 38 Finalist My Grandmother’s Life with Smoking By Will Miller Phoenixville Area Middle School I want to tell you a story about smoking that has two bad endings and a good ending. My grandmother and her best friend started smoking when they were in high school because they thought it was cool. They both smoked for almost 30 years before my grandmother’s brother died. He was a heavy smoker and died from a heart attack. His smoking may have partially caused his death. That was bad ending one, especially since he had a 1-year-old grandson. My grandmother decided on the day of his funeral to quit smoking right then and there. Believe it or not, she did and hasn’t smoked since (part of the good ending). My grandmother was lucky she wasn’t a heavy smoker – she really only smoked when she was stressed or out to dinner with friends who smoked. Realizing that smoking is bad, she decided to convince her best friend to quit as well. It was a lot harder for her friend to quit because she smoked about two packs of cigarettes a day. My grandmother “kidnapped” her friend and took her down to Ocean City, Maryland. Once there, my grandmother wouldn’t let her buy cigarettes at all. Instead, they took long walks on the beach and did a lot of baking. When they came back, the friend was chewing Nicorette gum but NOT smoking. Here comes bad ending two. The friend was diagnosed with lung cancer six months later and died a year after the trip to the shore. Unfortunately, the quitting wasn’t soon enough. Now for the rest of the good ending: My grandmother is still alive 30 years after she quit, and I have gotten to spend time with her. If she hadn’t quit, I may never have known her. 39 1st Place Jeanne’s Cigarette By YingYing Shang Fugett Middle School Jeanne always smoked. Her house smelled perpetually like cigarettes. The short stick in her hand never seemed to disappear; that puff of smoke always surrounded her in a sort of cloudy haze. Jeanne died last April, of a heart attack. Who exactly was she? My babysitter, my neighbor, but also, and most importantly, my friend. Portland, Maine is scenic, picturesque, but when that chill, New England breeze blows, it seems rather cold and deserted. Jeanne was the opposite – warm and friendly. When my parents looked for a babysitter, she volunteered. She had that Maine lilt to her talk and frequently lauded me as “brilliant” because I had skipped a grade. Her greetings were always curt, and she never placed much on formalities. A glass of milk, an apple, a pear. Some sign that the immense world out there would accept me. Those were the things Jeanne provided. That unmovable faith in me. As a rather ostracized fourth grader without many friends, Jeanne gave me the reassurance that every kid needs. She had a large family, and quickly pulled me into it. For my ninth birthday, she baked a cake, and invited her granddaughter who was my age. Those little things that show qualities like kindness, compassion, concern. Even when I moved to Pennsylvania, she was one of the few people that still kept in contact with me. She still sent presents every holiday, every birthday. I’ve moved so many places, and it was such a rarity to find someone who actually cared about me no matter where I was. Every Christmas, that big box that always came represented someone out there who genuinely cared. A heart attack was what killed her. More specifically, smoking is what killed her. Even when talking to someone, even when holding a lengthy conversation, she never snuffed out the cigarette. Packs and packs of cigarettes over time had harmed her health, and that showed in her persistent cough. After a couple of months of staying at her house everyday after school, I picked it up too. Only in retrospect did I realize what I was doing: secondhand smoking. I had asthma and bronchitis for two years because of that. If that is what it did to me, three hours a day, for five days a week, then what did it do to her? She wasn’t even that old – in her early sixties. If it hadn’t been for her nasty habit, who knows how many years it would have added to her life? Jeanne was my friend. An old friend. A real friend. But when I close my eyes and envision her once more, here’s how I see her: Sitting at her dining room table, with the shades pulled down halfway. Eyes half closed. On the table is a pack of cigarettes. In her hand is that short stick, with that wisp of smoke trailing off into the air. Jeanne died last April. Smoking. 40 Health Effects of Tobacco By Zachery Smith Saint Joseph School A healthy middle-aged man is jogging on the side of a street. Suddenly he stops and starts coughing uncontrollably. The man falls down and is rushed to the hospital where he dies; the cause of death is respiratory failure caused by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) from smoking. The health effects from tobacco are enormous and many of them, like heart attacks, strokes, COPD, emphysema and cancer, can be life-threatening. They are all very serious illnesses and some are very difficult to cure, if they can be cured at all. I am very worried about how tobacco and secondhand smoke affects your health. I think that tobacco smoking should be regulated to prevent secondhand smoke because a person exposed to secondhand smoke has little choice concerning being exposed. The fact that you are at risk of getting the same diseases as someone who smokes when you are exposed to secondhand smoke means that we have to regulate smoking to protect people from secondhand smoke. The diseases that are caused by tobacco are caused when the smoke enters your lungs. If you smoke for too long this can make your lungs black and make you take in less oxygen with each breath. I fear that if there is not awareness of these diseases that it may affect more people because people do not know this can happen due to secondhand smoke. Also, I am concerned that being exposed to secondhand smoke could make a person addicted to the nicotine, which is toxic, in tobacco. I worry that if there is not more awareness of the dangers of secondhand smoke that there may be more cases of diseases in people who have never even smoked. The health effects of tobacco are real and life-threatening. I hope that there will be more awareness among smokers and nonsmokers in regard to the damage of secondhand smoke so that we can prevent it. 41