The Youth Action Alliance (YAA) is a peer leadership program that teaches young people the skills needed to work on policy-related tobacco control issues. The activities primarily engage youth in local action to:
1) prevent tobacco use
2) reduce second-hand smoke exposure
3) refer to cessation (stop smoking) services
4) increase awareness of tobacco issues.

In order to improve the health status of their community, Youth Action Alliances engage youth in action-oriented activities that teach skills and provide leadership opportunities needed to work on policy-related tobacco control issues.

The local Windsor-Essex Youth Action Alliance, called Knot In My Life, consists of 10 peer leaders and a youth advisor.

Initiatives

The Youth Action Alliance (YAA) aims to involve middle and high school age youth (14 – 18 years) in community based tobacco control activities. These activities promote youth participants’ understanding of how, through collective action, they can:
1) positively affect change in their community
2) change social norms that support manufactured tobacco use
3) counter tobacco industry marketing practices.

During 2007, the Knot In My Life peer leaders have been busy with various initiatives:

1) Unmasking The Tobacco Industry
2) Valentine Event - Will You Be My Valentine?
3) Kick Butts Day
4) Earth Day- Green Tree Campaign
5) Drop Dead & Mall Display
6) Graphic Design Poster Contest

1) Unmasking The Tobacco Industry
In January 2007, each Knot In My Life peer leader wore a mask and held large, eye-catching signs in downtown Windsor. The signs outlined facts about the harmful effects of tobacco industry products. The goal was to catch everyone’s attention, and to introduce the group to the Windsor-Essex County community. This was the first event and the group was very proud to receive media coverage from the A-Channel’s 6 o’clock evening news and a radio interview with CHYR. Most of the reviews received from passers-by were positive.

2) Valentine Event - Will You Be My Valentine? The purpose of this event was to make high school students more aware of the health risks of tobacco related products and how the tobacco industry markets to teens. It involved randomly putting valentine letters on students’ lockers throughout various high schools. The letters revealed how tobacco industry messages target youth. The high schools that participated included:
Assumption
Kennedy
Sandwich
Cardinal Carter
Essex.

3) Kick Butts DayThe Knot In My Life peer leaders participated in the annual Kick Butts Day on March 28th.  Members of the group were at Assumption, Kennedy, Sandwich, Cardinal Carter, and Essex High Schools to ask students to share their thoughts and opinions about how tobacco has affected them personally, how they feel the tobacco industry is targeting them and to sign their name along with their message. The event was also used as a way to promote the Knot In My Life group to area high schools.

4) Earth Day- Green Tree Campaign
To honor Earth Day, the Knot In My Life peer leaders created approximately 1,000 miniature recyclable paper trees and distributed them throughout Windsor-Essex County. Each tree had a message about the negative effects tobacco industry products have on the environment. On Earth Day, Sunday April 22nd, the Knot In My Life peer leaders had a display booth and helped plant trees at Malden Park. The display was well attended by the public and there was an amazing amount of positive feedback.

5) Drop Dead & Mall Display
About forty-four people in Ontario die every day due to tobacco related illnesses. On May 26th, at the Devonshire Mall, the Knot In My Life peer leaders “dropped dead” every hour. The goal of the event was to increase awareness regarding the number of lives lost each day due to tobacco related illnesses. This was achieved by the peer leaders dropping dead, drawing attention to the incident and then educating the public. The Knot In My Life group also had a display booth at the mall.

6) Graphic Design Poster Contest
The Knot In My Life peer leaders held a graphic design poster contest for high school students. The purpose was to encourage youth to learn more about how the tobacco industry targets youth. Submitted posters used graphic design elements to show the “after-effects” of tobacco product use. The winning poster may be used in a local advertising campaign.

Visit the SmokeFX Website for more information about Knot In My Life.

http://www.smoke-fx.com/local/windsoressex/