Parents and teachers have a major role in equipping children to say no to tobacco, said ace violinist Balabhaskar here on Children’s Day, marking the launch of the social media campaign #SayNO2Tobacco.
The campaign #SayNo2Tobacco aims to protect children from tobacco use initiation by training them to say a bold No, and thereby create tobacco free schools and colleges in Kerala.
“I have never smoked or used tobacco in life, nor do I intend to. We need creative ways and responses to help children say no to tobacco and this is what the campaign aims at,” the youth icon noted.
The well-known composer also launched a jingle in Malayalam encouraging children to say no to tobacco. The jingle composed by Balabhaskar has been written by Joy Thamalam and rendered by artists Amritha, Prarthana and Janaki.
Dr AS Pradeep Kumar, Advisor, Tobacco Free Kerala spoke about how important it is to stop children from initiating tobacco use. “Only 2-4 per cent of smokers have been able to voluntarily stop smoking. Parents should emulate a culture of not giving in to all demands made by children. In due course of time, this will help children also to say no to tobacco.”
“Easy availability of tobacco products near schools and colleges; peer influence and promotions through cinema are all temptations for the young to start use of tobacco products,” added Dr Pradeep, who is also the Senior Research Officer, Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies of Sree Chitra Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology here.
As part of this campaign, Tobacco Free Kerala requests teachers, parents, doctors, students and all concerned citizens to share opinions and thoughts on ‘How and When Children should Say NO to Tobacco’. The campaign is also a platform to share experiences on ‘How and When You Said NO to Tobacco’.
S Jayaraj, State Coordinator, Tobacco Free Kerala welcomed the gathering. Students from Paadashala – an after-school child care in Trivandrum also participated in the event.
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