Removing smoking from films aimed at youth

"Hollywood, put out that cigarette! The kids are watching."

That is the message local health educators and students want the film industry to hear.

That was the title of a presentation made to the Willows Rotary Club last week by Students Working Against Tobacco in an effort to promote smoke-free movies for teens and children.

Sharon Lazorko, tobacco project director with Glenn County Health Services, said her agency and the SWAT students have resumed their anti-smoking in film campaign for another three years.

As a result, they are seeking support from area civic groups, parent organizations and other interested parties to petition Hollywood filmmakers not to feature smoking in movies aimed at youth.

"We want to raise awareness and educate the community on this issue," Lazorko said. "We want to get more groups to write letters and get smoking out of youth-rated movies."

Smoking images successfully recruit half of the new youth tobacco users, she said, based on data supplied by researchers through the years.

So Glenn County is joining the national effort to buck this trend, Lazorko said, by asking regular people and business owners to ask for smoke-free films.

Hollywood executives have already heard from national health groups and agencies like the American lung and heart associations, she said, but they say they want to hear from people.

"The more we can get to raise their voice in the community," she said, the more likely Hollywood is to respond.

The Glenn County Tobacco-Free Coalition previously circulated anti-smoking petitions for youth films, Lazorko said.

However, these efforts did not saturate the community, she said.

"There are still people unaware of the problem, so we are doing it for another three years," Lazorko said.

Eleven organizations and five classrooms in Glenn County have signed resolutions in this campaign that were sent to six major Hollywood studios, Lazorko said. They include Disney, Fox, Sony, Warner Bros., Universal and Paramount, along with the MPAA ratings body.

The local organizations include seven adult and four youth groups.

Lazorko said SWAT students will be used at community presentations whenever possible to bring the point home.

There are SWAT chapters in Orland, Willows and Hamilton high schools, she said.

Lazorko added even children and teens from non-smoking homes are at risk of becoming smokers due to movie smoking scenes.

Those who watch DVDs over and over also increase their chances of smoking since smoking in films is advertising without people realizing it, she said.

This campaign will not stop smoking in R-rated films, Lazorko said, but it does hope to eliminate it in G, PG and PG-13-rated movies through public pressure.

Any community group or classroom interested in joining this effort may contact Lazorko at 865-6735 for more information.

Contact Rick Longley at 934-6800 or rlongley@tcnpress.com.