(New Hartford, NY- Aug. 2013) Reality Check of Madison, Oneida and Herkimer counties was on hand at the Summer Carnival in the New Hartford Shopping Center last Wednesday. This was a six-week event and the group wanted to end in a big way. They handed out over one hundred balloons to attendees, weighted by palm cards emblazoned with information about the way tobacco companies market their products in stores kids shop in.
“The more tobacco advertising kids see, the more they smoke,” said Elena Haskins, age 17. “90 percent of regular adult smokers report beginning before their eighteenth birthday and that is because the tobacco industry markets in a way that is appealing to youth and I love being a part of a group that works to reduce the impact of this marketing and save lives.”
In addition to the balloons, Reality Check leaders wrote facts and messages on the pavement inside the events. With tobacco still the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, Reality Check and programs like it still have a lot of work to do. If you would like to help in the fight please visit their website, www.realitycheckcny.com
Reality Check is a youth led, adult supported movement aimed at reducing youth exposure to tobacco marketing.