In Texas, 59.4% of youth (grades 9-12) report they have tried cigarettes,
higher than the national average of 58.4%.1
80% of smokers try their first cigarette before age 18.2
Every day, almost 5,000 youth between the ages of 12 and 17 smoke for the first
time, and one-third to one-half of those adolescents will eventually become
daily smokers.2
Almost 500,000 Texas teens alive today will die from tobacco usage.3
In cooperation with the Beaumont Independent School District (BISD) and M. D.
Anderson Cancer Center, the "Gift of Life" introduced a smoking prevention and
cessation campaign to more than 1,700 ninth grade students at three high
schools in the Fall of 2004. ASPIRE (A Smoking Prevention Interactive
Experience) was developed by M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and The University of
Texas School of Public Health, and the curriculum features an interactive
CD-ROM in which teenage smokers are given tips to help them quit and
non-smokers are encouraged not to start. Under local direction of the "Gift of
Life," ASPIRE has become part of the permanent curriculum within BISD.
Previous preparations for the course included an in-service training for BISD
personnel, including nurses and counselors who learned how to counsel smokers
on effective cessation strategies. Kickoff events for the three BISD high
schools are offered at the beginning of each school year and feature the
testimonial of wheel-chair bound former NFL star George Webster, a two-time
cancer survivor (throat and prostate) and double amputee who suffers from
congestive heart failure. Webster dramatically drives home the point that
cigarette smoking caused his physical downfall.
ASPIRE now includes an essay contest for local high school health students and
teachers providing $3,750 in cash prizes and scholarships. Discussions are
underway to expand the curriculum into other Southeast Texas schools in the
future.
Check out the ASPIRE newsletter
Read more about ASPIRE in Volume 18 of "Sharing the Gift of Life"
View ASPIRE Photo Gallery
1 Centers for Disease Control
2 American Legacy Foundation
3 Texas Department of State Health
Services