(Hamilton, NY – July 2015) More than 180 Reality Check Youth Leaders and tobacco control staff from across New York State joined with Hamilton community members at Colgate University for a selfie chain to support giving smoking in movies an R rating. Tobacco related illness is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and one of the primary causes of youth smoking is smoking in movies.
“Reality Check works to reduce youth exposure to tobacco marketing, and that includes in stores and on screen. Today, we are focusing on smoking in movies because, according to the Center for Disease Control, giving smoking an R rating could save the lives of 1 million kids alive today. Why would a movie studio NOT want to do that? I am proud to be here today raising awareness about this serious issue,” says Jordyn Camp, 17, of Eaton. She joined the others taking selfies while holding signs proclaiming, One little letter can save a million kids.
Just this year Disney increased the effectiveness of their policy by including most films Disney works on in their smoke free movies policy. While Disney is helping keep tobacco marketing off screen, other studios, like Time Warner, who recently advised their shareholders to vote “NO” to a similar proposal, still need some convincing. While it is important to communicate with the major movie studio parent companies to ask them to create their own policies, even more effective would be an industry wide policy giving smoking an R rating. We are only halfway through 2015 and already seven out of ten kid-rated movies with smoking came from independent film companies, making a push for an industry standard, set by the Motion Picture Association of America, imperative.
Heather Bernet, Reality Check Coordinator for Madison, Oneida and Herkimer Counties said, “Spreading the message that as parents, we want smoking out of movies that our kids are watching is important, but what a great moment to have so many young people insisting that smoking be kept out of THEIR movies. Nobody wants to help hook kids on a deadly habit, but that’s what the movie industry is doing. It’s time for a change in the way tobacco is portrayed on screen and anyone can help make a difference.”
If this change is something you would like to advocate for, share your opinions on social media with #RateSmokingR and visit www.RealityCheckofNY.com to find your local Reality Check program.