Greendale High School Students Selected to Serve on Statewide Youth Board
February 04, 2012
Brittany Schultz, a junior, and Gibby O’Keefe, a senior, at Greendale High School have been selected to serve on the FACT Youth Board of Directors. FACT (Fighting Against Corporate Tobacco) is Wisconsin’s youth-driven tobacco prevention program. There are currently over 6,000 FACT members statewide. Brittany and Gibby are empowering their peers and taking a stand using creative activities that educate other teens on how they are targets of the tobacco industry.
As FACT Board Members, Brittany and Gibby recruit new members, implement activities, meet with local elected officials in Greendale and Madison, and are instrumental in the creation of a public education campaign. This campaign exposes how the tobacco industry uses colorful packaging and candy flavoring to sell their tobacco products. “I think that by making the packaging colorful they are clearly trying to target towards teenagers and youth in America,” said Brittany. “And by doing so, they are only looking for a profit and trying to create new customers because they know that the older customers are dying out.”
“No adult is going to want a grape flavored cigarillo,” said Gibby, “These flavors appeal to teenagers and make kids nostalgic towards the flavors familiar to them from childhood. It is a very sneaky way to get someone addicted.”
Since FACT began in 2001, youth like Brittany and Gibby have been working tirelessly to reduce tobacco’s burden on Wisconsin youth. Over the last 10 years, the smoking rate among Wisconsin high school youth fell 46%. However, FACT’s job isn’t over. The tobacco industry continues to market to youth. An estimated one in five Wisconsin high school youth are still hooked on their deadly products. That’s a statistic FACT members are committed to reducing. Gibby stated “I am more behind the scenes, so I work it into my every day conversation. For instance, I work at a coffee shop and spread the message through word of mouth.” Brittany is completing Factivisms, which are activities that promote FACT’s message. She has given presentations to teens at the middle school and in health classes to remind students that tobacco companies are manipulating teens.
As FACT Board Members, Brittany and Gibby recruit new members, implement activities, meet with local elected officials in Greendale and Madison, and are instrumental in the creation of a public education campaign. This campaign exposes how the tobacco industry uses colorful packaging and candy flavoring to sell their tobacco products. “I think that by making the packaging colorful they are clearly trying to target towards teenagers and youth in America,” said Brittany. “And by doing so, they are only looking for a profit and trying to create new customers because they know that the older customers are dying out.”
“No adult is going to want a grape flavored cigarillo,” said Gibby, “These flavors appeal to teenagers and make kids nostalgic towards the flavors familiar to them from childhood. It is a very sneaky way to get someone addicted.”
Since FACT began in 2001, youth like Brittany and Gibby have been working tirelessly to reduce tobacco’s burden on Wisconsin youth. Over the last 10 years, the smoking rate among Wisconsin high school youth fell 46%. However, FACT’s job isn’t over. The tobacco industry continues to market to youth. An estimated one in five Wisconsin high school youth are still hooked on their deadly products. That’s a statistic FACT members are committed to reducing. Gibby stated “I am more behind the scenes, so I work it into my every day conversation. For instance, I work at a coffee shop and spread the message through word of mouth.” Brittany is completing Factivisms, which are activities that promote FACT’s message. She has given presentations to teens at the middle school and in health classes to remind students that tobacco companies are manipulating teens.