Extreme athletes give anti-tobacco message

One student said the exhibition brought home the anti-tobacco message more effectively than the usual assembly or classroom talk.
Some extreme sports stars brought their skills and anti-tobacco message to Harry S. Truman High School in Bristol Township on Thursday.
After doing jumps, flips and other stunts on their skateboards, inline skates and BMX bicycles, stars Jay Stevason, Trevor Meyer, Eito Yasutoko, Zack Warden and Jimmy Walker talked to the students about the importance of staying away from all types of smoking and smokeless tobacco.
While the athletes were performing, an announcer kept up a steady stream of anti-tobacco messages on a speaker in the background.
About 1,600 students watched the exhibition, including sophomores, juniors and seniors from Truman and ninth-graders from Benjamin Franklin Freshman Academy, said Truman Principal James Moore.
"It was exciting for the kids and exciting for me because I had never seen one of these extreme sports exhibitions before," he said. "They are very talented guys. We were trying to engage the kids in a different way and I think it worked well. A lot of the kids stayed around to talk to the athletes afterward."
The extreme sports anti-tobacco tour is making stops at high schools across the country, said Courtney Dornstein of the Florida-based ASA Entertainment Group, which is sponsoring the tour along with the Marine Corps. It's being funded entirely by the Marine Corps and is costing the schools nothing, she added.
"If we encourage even one youth to stop smoking or have second thoughts about tobacco use, it's worth our effort," said ASA CEO Rick Bratman. "We're very thankful to the schools and our sponsors for the opportunity to bring our tobacco prevention program to the kids, reaching them where they live."
Moore said he thought the exhibition was especially meaningful for students who skateboard, inline skate or ride BMX bicycles. "It was a chance for them to see the best in areas they take part in," he said.
Truman senior Tyler Smith, who doesn't use tobacco in any form, said bringing the message to students in such an exciting way probably had more impact than the usual assembly or classroom talk.
"It was definitely impressive," he said. "It's not every day you get to see extreme sports pros at your own school, and it was informative. I learned about third-hand smoke and I never knew there was such a thing."
Third-hand smoke is tobacco smoke that seeps into clothing and other material and can remain there for a long time, Smith said. "It can contain carcinogens and have harmful affects on people coming in contact with it," he said.
While there's a Marine Corps booth at the tour stops with recruiting information, there is no attempt to recruit during the shows, said ASA announcer Jim Coleman.
"My messages are all about tobacco and its dangers," he said. "There is no hard sell of the Marines."