Great American Smoke Out
Kristen Johnson
Issue date: 12/6/06 Section: News
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The Peer Educators is a student-led group of Southeast students from different backgrounds that are trained and nationally certified to educate and support their peers.
"We believe that we can play a uniquely effective role-unmatched by professional educators-in encouraging our friends to consider, talk honestly about and develop responsible habits and attitudes toward high-risk health and safety issues," said Peer Educator President William Washington.
"We promote positive lifestyles and decision-making skills and a healthy campus environment," said Washington, explaining why the Peer Educators decided to participate in this year's GASO for the second year in a row.
"This is one of those national awareness days, so the group decided that we should do something again for it. We had previously done this same event last year, so we decided to give it a try again. We try to do something for all of the different awareness days if time is available in all of the group members' busy schedules," said Washington.
This year for the GASO, the Peer Educators went around campus with the Cold Turkey, a person dressed up in a turkey costume, and gave out suckers.
The Educators asked people to have the suckers instead of a cigarette. The members also gave out information educating people on why they should not smoke.
Peer Educators also went to the elementary and junior high schools to give presentations on how smoking can damage a person's body.
"Research shows that smokers are most successful in kicking the habit when they have means of support," the American Cancer Society (ACS) web site (www.cancer.org) states, and that is just what the peer educators were trying to do.
The first GASO began in 1976 at the California division of the ACS. One million smokers quit for the day. The next year, ACS took the GASO national. The goal of the GASO is to draw attention to the deaths and diseases caused by smoking.
According to the ACS web site, "Tobacco causes lung cancer, as well as other cancers, heart disease and lung disease. Smoking is responsible for one in three cancer deaths and one in five deaths from all causes."
Washington said, "We were just hoping to just get the word out about smoking and at least have someone understand truly what smoking can do to a body. We were not trying to change someone overnight, but to simply give them the facts so that they couldn't say they were not educated on the effects of smoking."
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