SAFE Glen Cove Coalition: World No Tobacco Day 2021

World No Tobacco Day is a national event that informs the public about the dangers of tobacco use. World No Tobacco Day was celebrated by Glen Cove Elementary and Middle School students enrolled in SAFE’s Life Skills Training (LST) program and students enrolled in Mr. Gallo’s Health Education classes at the Glen Cove High School.

Youth were made aware of the Tobacco Industry’s efforts to market their deadly product to youth, and for youth to speak out against the deceptive messages and make their voices heard. For the past decade SAFE and their partner, Tobacco Action Coalition of LI, Community Engagement Specialist Carol Meschkow have been collaborating with the Glen Cove Youth Bureau and the Glen Cove School District to educate the local teens to be weary of the lure of Point of Sale marketing, and the dangers of all flavored tobacco products. Each year for World No Tobacco Day the partners have been bringing youth centered programs to the schools to afford an opportunity for youth to make their collective voices heard against the marketing tactics.

During the program, SAFE Social Worker, Francesca Carbone presented a power point to the students on the event and provided virtual activities for the students to participate in. Ms. Carbone’s presentation also consisted of a promotional educational video narrated by Ms. Meschkow. In the video, Ms. Meschkow highlighted a variety of facts and statistics regarding the issues within the big tobacco industries. She encouraged the youth to utilize their various educational venues to learn about the disheartening tactics that these companies do to lure children into buying their products, as well as profiting off of adult’s addictions -regardless of the known issues smoking causes. Visit SAFE's YouTube channel to view the video and subscribe to see upcoming videos.

As this event continues to thrive all across America, the decline in cigarette smoking has provided hope to continue the efforts to have a decline among the younger generation’s use with electronic cigarettes and vaping cigarettes.

To learn more about SAFE and the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition please follow us on www.facebook.com/safeglencove or visit SAFE’s website at www.safeglencove.org.