There probably aren’t too many children in America living under the impression that smoking is good for you. But subliminal messages within the culture – along with that ever-present childhood urge to “do the wrong thing” – mean that there can never be enough literature or media aimed at getting kids to resist the tobacco temptation.
The people at Children’s Media Project, the nonprofit arts and education organization that has been part of the Poughkeepsie landscape since 1994, know as well as anyone how important it is to send kids the right message. The project’s latest undertaking is a video contest called “Tackling Tobacco,” a showcase for youth filmmakers as well as a vital platform for media and health education. The contest, which features 16 videos from young people ages 9-18, is looking for judges as well. Interested youth can go www.tacklingtobacco.org, rank each video and become automatically qualified to win a free iPod Touch and other prizes.
“Kids want the opportunity to make decisions on their own without being told what to do by adults,” said Nicole Fenichel-Hewitt, the project’s executive director. “This contest is an opportunity for them to explore the message and make conclusions on their own.”
The winners were announced last night (Dec. 18), but young people are still encouraged to go on the Web site where they can continue to vote and qualify for the iPod.
“The idea is to get as many people to see the videos as possible,” said Fenichel-Hewitt. “The iPod is a good incentive.”
Based on the viewer ratings, young filmmakers will win awards in three different categories: Strength of Anti-Tobacco Message, Production Quality, and Creativity and Innovation. The CMP describes the purpose of the contest as threefold: to provide a platform for youth artists, to provide incentives for youth anti-tobacco activism and awareness and to use the view-and-vote model (popularized by the ubiquitous YouTube Web site) to increase youth knowledge of the dangers of tobacco.
One of the entrants is 19-year-old Malissa Pitts. Pitts, who was 18 when she completed her three-minute video warning about the dangers of chewing tobacco, sees the contest as the perfect way to inform her peers.
“The videos allow kids to learn while they’re being entertained, which is always a plus,” said the sophomore at Dutchess Community College. “Nobody wants to watch boring videos where they’re just being told what’s right and wrong.”
County on board
The money for “Tackling Tobacco” was secured for 2008 through Dutchess County and the Dutchess County Children’s Health Initiative. The motivation for the project stemmed from CMP’s conviction that not only would the youth who produced the media have a deeper understanding of the perils of tobacco, but also that the viewer-voting process would heighten the audience’s awareness as well. The videos span an array of related topics, covering everything from the chemicals that make up tobacco to the sicknesses associated with smoking to peer pressure issues that teens face on a daily basis. Entries were not limited to CMP participants either. In fact, two videos come from youth in Schenectady – one from the Boys and Girls Club and another from a program called Reality Check.
“The entries cover every angle,” said Fenichel-Hewitt, who said that most of the videos were received by the summer when the “Tackling Tobacco” site was launched. “Some are very direct and some are a bit more subtle. But there are a variety of messages, all of which I think are more effective because they come from the youth mindsets.”