"Nearly all indoor public places in Nebraska are smoke-free. But some high school students are asking local authorities to take those non-smoking restrictions one step further."
That's according to 10/11 News.
"Grand Island Senior High senior Reyna Raymundo says she doesn't think it's fair to have community members affected by other peoples' decision to smoke cigarettes in outdoor public areas.
"Raymundo and other high school board members of No Limits, Nebraska's youth-led tobacco prevention movement are hoping to extinguish what they see as a big problem for local teens.
"'Everyone deserves a free environment, to have both inside and outside, non-smoking, because there is no safe way to have second hand smoke,' Raymundo says."
The students approached Central City, which has already implemented the students' idea to create smoke-free parks.
"They had some suggestions that they thought would be good in a policy and we took those suggestions, kind of molded them to our needs and together I think we put together a nice policy that everybody agrees will be effective in our parks," Anderson says.
Tobacco Free Youth Recreation of Minnesota lists a number of reasons for parks to be smokefree. They include:
That's according to 10/11 News.
"Grand Island Senior High senior Reyna Raymundo says she doesn't think it's fair to have community members affected by other peoples' decision to smoke cigarettes in outdoor public areas.
"Raymundo and other high school board members of No Limits, Nebraska's youth-led tobacco prevention movement are hoping to extinguish what they see as a big problem for local teens.
"'Everyone deserves a free environment, to have both inside and outside, non-smoking, because there is no safe way to have second hand smoke,' Raymundo says."
The students approached Central City, which has already implemented the students' idea to create smoke-free parks.
"They had some suggestions that they thought would be good in a policy and we took those suggestions, kind of molded them to our needs and together I think we put together a nice policy that everybody agrees will be effective in our parks," Anderson says.
Tobacco Free Youth Recreation of Minnesota lists a number of reasons for parks to be smokefree. They include:
- Parks are established to promote healthy activities. The purpose of park areas is to promote community wellness, and tobacco-free policies fit with this idea.
- Secondhand smoke harms everyone. Secondhand smoke is a human carcinogen for which there is no safe level of exposure. Exposure to secondhand smoke has immediate health consequences such as asthma attacks and other respiratory diseases.
- Secondhand smoke is harmful in outdoor settings. According to Repace Associates, secondhand smoke levels in outdoor public places can reach levels as high as those found in indoor facilities where smoking is permitted.
- Cigarette litter is dangerous. Discarded cigarettes pollute the land and water and may be ingested by toddlers, pets, birds or fish.
- Tobacco-free policies help change community norms. Tobacco-free policies establish the community norm that tobacco use is not an acceptable behavior for young people or adults within the entire community.
- Policies provide consistency among community athletic facilities and groups. The majority of community sporting events are held at either city or school district athletic facilities, and nearly all school districts prohibit tobacco use on their entire grounds. Also, many community athletic associations have policies but use city recreation facilities and would benefit from a city-wide policy.
- Policies reduce litter and maintenance costs.
- Tobacco-free environments promote positive community role modeling and protect the health, safety, and welfare of community members.
- Tobacco-free policies help break the connection between tobacco and sports. For years the tobacco industry has sponsored sporting events and advertised at recreational events, misguiding young people’s perception of tobacco use. Research indicates that sporting events expose youth to extensive tobacco use by people they view as positive role models.
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