Kick Butts Day teaches youth importance of not smoking

By Natalie LakosilMarch 19, 2015

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1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – From left, Sgt. Morgan Schepper, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 111th Military Intelligence Brigade, United States Army Intelligence Center of Excellence; Col. Thomas A. Boone, Fort Huachuca Garrison commander; Lucas Brown, 6; and 1st Sgt. Ch... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Rebecca Lopez, lead child and youth program assistant, watches as Zachary Graupner, 5, makes noises in disgust while learning about the real substances in tobacco products. Youth were able to view what tobacco products looked like as well as what the... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Fort Huachuca, Arizona - The first Kick Butts Day on Fort Huachuca was held at the Child and Youth Services School Age Center on Wednesday afternoon.

The two-hour carnival was to promote healthy life choices and to help teach children of the adverse effects smoking causes.

"Kick Butts Day is a national day of activism that empowers youth to stand out, speak up and seize control against Big Tobacco. We're expecting more than 1,000 events in schools and communities across the United States and even around the world," according to kickbuttsday.org.

The carnival was held for children 5 to 11 and offered a variety of booths and games to help teach them about the risks of smoking. "We had a lot of support, so we're happy about that," said Tracy Owens, School Age Center assistant director.

The community health nurse hosted a booth with information and other goodies for the children. Members of the CYS Middle School and Teen Program performed a song they wrote themselves about tobacco and also helped run the games alongside Soldiers assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 111th Military Intelligence Brigade, U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence.

Parents were also invited to walk through the carnival area when they came to pick up their children. The booths included; the "breath of death" where youth could smell what smokers' breath was like, a jar of tar to show what is collected by smokers in their lungs, coloring pages with information on what happens to a person's body after smoking, teeth and gum displays, the "tin can tobacco slam" where youngsters knocked down items representing different diseases smoking causes, a cost-effect and smoking facts roulette game and more.

One parent, Danielle Weinberg, walked through the event with her son Jackson, 5. "It's great, nice to teach kids about the effects of smoking and have interactive activities for them," she said.

"It's hard with this age group because it is a really serious subject and it's not that we're trying to lighten it but we're trying to make it more age appropriate," said John Pray, program assistant.

Capt. Casey Fulton, HHC USAICoE, discussed the strength advertisement holds.

"Tobacco products and things like that are sometimes advertised and they try to get young kids to get started using tobacco products and we all know it has adverse effects to your health. So it's good to have kind of the opposite campaign going on for the kids. They learn that tobacco products are not good for their health."

Exposure was a key point during the carnival. Posters crafted by the youth showing the effects smoking can cause were displayed along the walls.

"We are trying to make the children aware that smoking is not good for them. Smoking is bad, and a lot of them won't fully understand but we are exposing them to that. The more we can expose them to it and stop them from going in that direction the better it is," Owens said.

"We save lives any way we can. If we help one child to not start smoking, we've done a good deed. Our other goal is that kids take these [messages] home to their parents and their parents see it, and that these kids can encourage their parents to stop smoking. If we can help one child or one parent we're good," she added.