[Intl-tobacco] Barbados: Cinemas join fight against tobacco

[Robert Weissman]

 Cinemas join fight against tobacco - Barbados Advocate

 Tuesday, May 27, 2003

 LOCAL cinemas will play their part in the fight against the use of
tobacco in recognition of World No Tobacco Day, which will
 be celebrated on May 31, when they display anti-smoking images prior to
the showing of movies.
 The initiative, which was undertaken by the Pan-American Health
Organisation (PAHO), the National Council on Substance
 Abuse (NCSA), the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education,
will be focussing on sensitising the youth on the negative
 images which could be disseminated through these and other media,
worldwide.

 To this end, students from the Foundation Secondary, School who
conducted their own Media Literacy Programme, were
 rewarded tickets to attend the Olympus Cinemas.

 Teacher Yvette Simmons- Jemmott explained that the programme was aimed
at sensitising students to the various images used in
 the media to promote tobacco smoking.

 "We have looked at advertisements that they themselves have seen on
television, in magazines etc., and we have looked at the
 negative types of messages that are being sent," she said.

 Simmons-Jemmott added that it was alarming the number of times that an
actor is seen smoking in a movie, adding that the
 students were asked to scrutinise the movies to see how not only
tobacco, but also alcohol is "glamourised".

 Principal of the school, Edward Cumberbatch, said that by being
educated on "how the media works, and how it could also be
 used to get the message out, that these things can affect negatively
and can be avoided".

 He lauded the work of the students saying, "a strong message coming
from the youth, should have an effect on other youth".

 He added, "At the end of the day, we hope to produce something from
Foundation which we can put into the media, which can
 have a strong effective message against these scourges."

 Director of the NCSA, Tessa Chadderton-Shaw, told the students that
research has shown that adolescents are severely exposed to
 images of people smoking in the film industry.

 "So we are making an effort to counter that, and to have you understand
the health consequences and the dangers of smoking, not
 just nicotine but other "smokable" substances such as marijuana," she
said.

 Communications Advisor from PAHO Claire Forrester said that is was her
hope that students began to view television differently,
 and are able to decode the messages of fashion, fun and elegance that
are associated with smoking.

 "Most young people believe that they are immune and would not become
addicted, but it is also one of the most powerful
 substances, to which you can become addicted," she warned.

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