​Members pause for a photo after completing their "Cups in A Fence" Activity with funds provided through a $500 grant they received from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids: Pictured Left to Right in the front: Rachel Mennig from Stockbridge, Ava Valetutto, Riley Hysell, and Brennan Hysell from Madison, and in the back on the fence: Hailey Bernet from Stockbridge, and Tori Allen from Chittenango.
Members pause for a photo after completing their “Cups in A Fence” Activity with funds provided through a $500 grant they received from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids: Pictured Left to Right in the front: Rachel Mennig from Stockbridge, Ava Valetutto, Riley Hysell, and Brennan Hysell from Madison, and in the back on the fence: Hailey Bernet from Stockbridge, and Tori Allen from Chittenango.

The cold weather on Saturday didn’t stop students from getting their message out about their concerns regarding tobacco marketing. The students are all members of Reality Check, a youth led, adult supported program aimed to educate local communities and elected officials about the problems they see regarding tobacco.

3X was the message they chose for the chainlink fence that belongs to the Stockbridge Valley Central School.
Alongside the cups hangs a banner that reads, “Stores near schools contain nearly 3X the amount of tobacco advertisements.”

“We set out to inform the community and our elected officials that even in small communities this is a concern,” said Riley Hysell, an eighth-grader at Madison Central School. “I live in Madison and the store is right next door to our school. Kids are constantly exposed to images of tobacco.”
She says she is concerned because “even though we know tobacco is deadly and harmful, the ads and hundreds of tobacco products on display seem to tell us otherwise.”

“We want to get attention from the town legislature so that we can work with them to find ways to prevent kid form starting smoking and find ways to reduce kid’s exposure to tobacco marketing,” Rachel Mennig, a seventh-grader from Stockbridge Valley said.
Students also traveled to Utica to view the way tobacco marketing differs, and they found that there seemed to be more outdoor tobacco marketing, and the brands were different. Menthol-flavored cigarette ads and cigar ads prevailed in Utica. They plan to do a more in-depth observation of stores this summer when the weather is warmer and hope to share their findings with elected officials in Madison and Oneida County.

By martha

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