Engaging Youth for Positive Change. Examples from Tobacco Prevention and Emergency Preparedness

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1 Engaging Youth for Positive Change Examples from Tobacco Prevention and Emergency Preparedness

2 Tobacco Prevention and Control Unit: Youth Specific Goals Prevent tobacco use among youth and Promote tobacco use cessation among youth and adults

3 Impact of Tobacco Use In the U.S. Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death In Illinois High School Students who smoke 17.5% Kids now under 18 and alive in Illinois who will ultimately die prematurely from smoking 230,000 In suburban Cook County 40.3% of youth have ever tried cigarette smoking

4 Why Engage Youth?!?

5 The Answers Are Youth know youth Advocate for policy change Project a powerful voice Offer energy and vitality Invoke creativity and innovation Mobilize their peers

6 CDC Best Practices Youth play a unique and important policy advocacy role that contributes to an effective, comprehensive tobacco control program.

7 What Youth Should Do. Policy Advocacy Activities Write letters to legislators Collect signatures for petitions Media Advocacy Design counter-marketing campaigns Advertise in school publications Community engagement Perform community assessments Educate community members

8 Funded by state and local health departments Anti-tobacco movement created by and for Illinois teens. REALITY Illinois is spreading the word about tobacco industry manipulation, second-hand smoke and tobacco use to everyone in the state.

9 Current REALITY IL Chapters BOOC, Inc Dolton, IL Tobacco Licensing Corazon Community Services Cicero, IL Tobacco Licensing Crossroads Coalition Richton Park, IL Smoke-Free Parks

10 REALITY IL: Crossroads Chapter Park Clean-Up

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12 Engaging Youth for Positive Change (EYPC) Curriculum Define the Issue Determine Decision Makers Discover Data Deliver the Message

13 Cook County Department of Public Health Youth Partnerships Boy Scouts of America CCDPH serves as a community resource working in partnership with local organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America to build healthy, resilient communities by: Providing Boy Scouts of America Public Health Merit Badge Training requirements to area Councils Providing Emergency Preparedness Pin training requirements Coordination of training activities for the Ready Man activity badge

14 Take-Away Engaging youth is a transformative process empowering young people to educate their community, elected officials, family members and friends. Education Advocacy - Policy Change All of that leads to the creation healthier communities.

15 References 1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fast Facts. Web. 2 Apr htm. 2. Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. The Toll of Tobacco in Illinois - Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. Web. 2 Apr Youth Risk Behavioral Survey, Web. 2 Apr Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Best Practices User Guide: Youth Engagement-State and Community Interventions. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, Scott P. Hays, Ph.D., and Janine Toth, MSSW. Engaging Youth For Positive Change. Urbana-Champaign, IL. A hands-on program for youth ages to promote community-wide policy change. University of Illinois, Center for Prevention Research and Development, Institute of Government and Public Affairs, 2013.

16 Contact Information Aesha Binion, MPH Health Educator Tobacco Prevention and Control Unit cookcountypublichealth.org