DAVE BENJAMIN Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School students have created a wall of “Caring Hands” to emphasize the need to stop smoking.
MANALAPAN — The Great American Smokeout is scheduled for Nov. 16, and to do their part in the fight against smoking, students at the Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School (MEMS) have launched the Caring Hands program in conjunction with the Manalapan Health Department.
Caring Hands aims to help encourage students, parents, relatives and neighbors to give up smoking. The program points out the dangers of smoking to a student population which is susceptible to the habit.
In recent weeks, students were asked to write a message on a "caring hand," made out of paper to a current smoker, a former smoker, a smoker who died from a smoking-related illness or a general anti-smoking message.
When the project is complete, MEMS students will have created a Caring Hands banner that will be on display in the front hallway of the school through the week of parent-teacher conferences.
For many students this project was a caring experience and a learning experience.
"As a dancer, I know the dangers of smoking and what it does to your body," eighth-grader Erin Miller said. "So, stay healthy and keep your lungs healthy so that you can become the best person you can be."
Eighth-grader Lisa Peraggine added, "As an athlete, I know that it’s not good to smoke. A lot of girls quit because they can’t breathe."
Other eighth-graders like Kevin Bitar noted, "The heart is greatly affected by smoking," and Josh Siber said he learned how a person’s lungs look before and after smoking.
Eric Salberg added, "Smoking can kill you," and Josh Ellis agreed, "Smoking is bad for your health."
As an incentive to participate in the project, all students who create a Caring Hand are entered into a raffle for prizes to be awarded on Nov. 16, the day of the Great American Smokeout.
The program is co-sponsored by the township health department and the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District Board of Education, said Marcie Tyson, Manalapan’s health educator.
"Part of the funding for the raffle prizes came directly from grants from the tobacco settlement money that has filtered down from the federal level to the state level, to the local level. So, it’s a wonderful collaborative effort between government and schools," Tyson said.
According to information provided by Caring Hands organizers, more than 3,000 youths in America become regular smokers each day, and 84 of them live in New Jersey.
Participation in the Caring Hands project encourages students to delay or prevent their own smoking behavior as they focus on how smoking touches their lives in a personal way, organizers said.
"The impact of smoking on public health is staggering," said David Richardson, township health officer. "Every year, more than 420,000 Americans die prematurely because of tobacco smoke."
Commenting on the Caring Hands project, MEMS Principal Tom Sherman said, "Working in cooperation with the Manalapan Health Department, we had the children look into the past at relatives who may have died (from smoking) and looking toward the future to people who smoke and to try to encourage them not to smoke. I thought it was a great activity."