Turlock Journal

(November 16, 1999)

For all the smokers who would like to quit, Thursday is a good day to begin kicking the habit.

The Great American Smokeout, an annual day designated to help smokers begin to quit, is sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

Several resources are available to assist smokers in quitting, least of which is the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency, located in Modesto.

Heather Duvall and Donna Phillips head up the Tobacco Education program and are available to anyone who would like additional information or help in kicking the habit. To provide assistance for Turlock residents interested in kicking the habit, Duvall said that some of their representatives will be at the Wellington Pub in downtown Turlock on Thursday to provide "Quit Kits" from the American Cancer Society.

"The kits are really helpful because they provide immediate tips on quitting smoking. If anyone would like any additional information or help they can contact our office at 558-6053 and we will be more than happy to give them a hand." Duvall said.

Quitting smoking is not just for adults. As important, if not more important, is helping young adults who already smoke to quit and providing timely information on the risks of smoking to children who are thinking about starting.

Kathy Dunbar, Turlock High School's nurse, is involved in tobacco education. However, her efforts are directed at THS students who have been observed smoking on the campus. Dunbar, who has been the school nurse since 1987, offers tobacco cessation training for any student who would like quit, but the majority of those who attend six hours of training are usually those caught with tobacco on campus, since Turlock High School is a tobacco-free campus.

"We have been offering tobacco-cessation training for the past five years and have tried several avenues to assist our students," Dunbar said.

Dunbar says that normally she sees students who do not want to quit but because they have used tobacco products on campus, are required to attend.

"When we would hold the classes, either before or after school, we would have kids who didn't want to be there and the training wasn't very effective."

Dunbar and THS have received a grant from the Tobacco Use Prevention Education foundation to assist in the formation of "smokeless Saturdays" at the THS campus. The four to five hour sessions, scheduled to begin in February, 2000, will be designed to offer information through the use of videos, posters, informational handouts and games to help students decide to quit using tobacco.

"We want to make this fun for the kids that have to be here and for anyone who would like the information. We hope that by doing it this way we can get students to come because it will be fun rather just a boring lecture format," Dunbar explained.

Dunbar, who is the medical careers group advisor, will also be involved in the smokeout on Thursday. Her group will have posters up throughout the school and will set up an information booth in the quad at lunchtime. The group will have information available on the health risks of tobacco use and will also sponsor several games designed to educate students on the risks of smoking.

It is estimated that 18 percent of all California residents smoke. County health officials feel that the statistics for Stanislaus County mirror the state-wide numbers.

Used by permission of the Turlock Journal.