Jennifer Weil, MA¹, Susanna Nemes, PhD², Sharon Zack, MS¹, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, PhD¹, and Joy Haviland, BA². (1) Danya International Inc, 8737 Colesville Road, suite 1200, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 301-565-2142, jweil@danya.com, (2) Danya International, Inc., 8737 Colesville Road, Suite 1200, Silver Spring, MD 20910

Each day, 6,000 children smoke their first cigarette. Although the nation’s schools are providing students with some tobacco education, the recent increases in smoking among youth yield the need for schools to improve their current tobacco programs. In response to this need, agencies such as the CDC have developed recommendations to assist educational settings in delivering tobacco prevention messages to both children and adolescence. Unfortunately, despite these recommendations, few schools are implementing programs that meet each of the CDC’s criteria.

To assist schools in implementing tobacco prevention curricula that meet the CDC criteria, Danya International, Inc., with funding from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) has designed a multifaceted, innovative school based smoking-prevention package entitled Students Making Advertisements to Reduce Tobacco (SMART). The SMART program utilizes a social marketing approach to deliver tobacco prevention education. Using a strong theoretical framework to guide knowledge and skill development, SMART enables students to observe, learn, and participate in delivering prevention messages.

During phase I of the project period, Danya project staff developed the eight-session curriculum and youth workbook. A pilot study was conducted to examine the feasibility and the acceptability of the program. Fifteen students from a middle school in Montgomery County, Maryland participated in this pilot study. Results of the pilot study will be presented. In addition, a full scale evaluation plan will also be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe how the social influence model can be used to prevent tobacco use
• Recognize how media literacy can be used as a tool to prevent tobacco use among youth
• Identify three methodolgical challenges in conducting school based intervention research.

Keywords: Child/Adolescent, School-Based Programs

Related Web page: www.danya.com

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Danya International Inc.
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.