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A number of Internet sites, including those sponsored by the tobacco industry, provide information
for youth about the dangers of smoking. With so many youth using the Internet, they tend to trust
what they see online over what their parents or teachers tell them about smoking. Youth use the
Internet as a tool to communicate, organize, and promote anti-tobacco campaign.
Communicate
The Internet deletes the limitation of time and space among youth. The Internet offers a place for
youth and others who want to keep tobacco out the hands of youth to communicate with each other.
The ways are as following:
Mailing list
Mailing list is one of the ways for communicating among youth. There are many mailing lists serving for anti-tobacco purpose on the Internet. Anti-tobacco mailing lists deliver messages to tens of
thousands of tobacco control advocates, and provide a way for local and national groups to communicate
quickly, effectively, and very inexpensively.
Bulletin Board
Many anti tobacco site have bulletin board for users to share their opinions about tobacco issues with others. Most of these bulletin boards encourage a diversity of opinion - one can view his/her opinion
on a bulletin board whatever his/her position on tobacco issues. The purpose of these bulletin boards
is to promote a dialogue among youth about tobacco.
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Organize
I noticed that most of these anti tobacco sites are regional. Usually, they organize youth in a certain region or community to take action against the tobacco industry. They offer program and curriculum that provide the knowledge and skills necessary to survey the community, analyze data, prioritize community problems, build relationships with community leaders, and communicate with local media. Participating in on-line anti-tobacco organization allows youth to develop strong communication, critical thinking, and leadership skills.
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Act
After getting organized on line, youth take actions in the real world: promoting anti-tobacco campaigns. Most of these campaigns are regional. What's more, they use the Internet as a tool for promoting the campaigns.
Get TUF (Tobacco Use Free) is a typical anti-tobacco promoting site. The "Get TUF!" project is operated by the West Virginia Youth Tobacco Prevention Campaign. Get TUF has sections such as Locate a Get TUF Chapter, which includes the quarterly report of each county; Sign a Get TUF Pledge, through which youth can pledge to be tobacco-free and to support tobacco-free projects and policies in there school and community, and Overview of the Campaign, which tells the funding, collaboration, and accomplishments of the campaign.
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