Anti-smoking organizations indicate that peer pressure is one of the most common reasons that kids are lured into their first cigarette. A new program underway at the Jericho School System, under the direction of the American Lung Association, is working to flip the impact of peer pressure on its head, so that it does not influence lighting up, but rather encourages avoiding the habit.

Four groups of 32 Jericho High School student volunteers involved in this novel program, Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU), are currently finalizing their own original 40-minute anti-smoking presentations to unveil next Friday, March 6 before their younger sixth grade counterparts in Jericho Middle School, in hopes that they can convince the malleable, impressionable minds to eschew tobacco.

School social worker and substance abuse counselor Todd Benjamin understands that early adolescence is a key time to drum in the dangers and health ramifications of nicotine.

"It's always amazing to me how I'll sit with sixth graders and talk to them about drugs and alcohol, and they 'absolutely are not going to do it; it's horrible.' I'll sit with that same kid in ninth grade, and all of a sudden he's smoking pot," said Benjamin. "There's something that happens in those intervening years that the kids seem to change their opinions. We're trying to target that age group to try to give them more ammunition to hang on."

That ammunition, though, seems to be more potent and powerful from the likes of a respected, admired older teen than from adults, with whom some students cannot connect. One could say that adults and sixth graders sometimes speak two different languages, and it's the peers who will do the translating.

No doubt, affirmed Mari Anne Zacharia, director of TATU, "Younger kids respond very well to their older peers." Therefore, the TATU program hinges on a three-step format that allows key health information about tobacco to be passed along first from health organizations to adult counselors, then from counselors to student peers, and finally from peers to youngsters who have hopefully not yet been exposed to smoking.

TATU, a byproduct of the collaboration between the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and the ALA, was originally just one aspect of the three organizations' joint project, Smoke-Free Class of 2000, which aimed to, on a yearly basis, subject school kids across the nation to workshops designed to curtail smoking. However, TATU evolved on its own and is now operated solely by ALA staff.

Though a national program, TATU was instituted for the first time on Long Island in October 1997, when 60 teachers, advisors and counselors from Nassau and Suffolk schools, including Benjamin, came to the Comprehensive School Health and Wellness Center in Deer Park to undergo phase one of the program.

There, teachers were exposed to smoking facts and statistics, and watched a video on how cigarette companies aim advertisements at minors. "We basically walk the teachers through what they would be doing with the high school kids," said Zacharia.

The school employees observed a human tobacco timeline, which demonstrated how a smoker's body is affected over the years, and partook in activities that focused on how best to communicate with a sixth grader - something that the high schoolers would also have to learn to do.

"It was an opportunity to give us information about tobacco and also to begin to think developmentally about what a sixth grader might look like, what kinds of words he uses and what his interests are...so that we'd be tuned in to his needs. And then [in step two] we did that with our high school students to tune them in," said Benjamin. The Jericho students picked this skill up rather quickly, added the counselor, "because they weren't so far from sixth grade." However, "For us old timers, it was a little more difficult."

On Wednesday, February 4, the 32 Jericho peer leaders underwent training from Benjamin as well as fellow Jericho district trainees Scott Andrews, Kerri Kropas and Beth Schisgall, to complete step two of TATU.

However, before that could be accomplished, the TATU advisors actually had to whittle down the amount of original volunteers, which was more than double the final number. Benjamin believes the overwhelming response was due to the students' ability to create their own program, based on the training they received.

"If we had said that we were going to give them information about tobacco, I don't think that we would have gotten them to sign up, but because they were going to be able to do a presentation to a younger grade, and [we] gave them ownership of the project, I think they got excited about that."

Zacharia concurred, explaining a key point with TATU is that both the teachers and the students have flexibility it to "tailor it to their own needs."

Furthermore, she added, "The best way to deal with kids in high school is to empower them in the effort to persuade other kids from smoking." Giving them such creative control helps to empower them.

The peers were exposed to the same activities and information as the teachers were, and then broke into groups of eight to plan their middle school presentations, which would include the highlights of TATU's training program, as well as new ideas formulated by the students.

On March 6, TATU will reach stage three, as the four groups will address segments of the sixth grade population. If all goes well, the concept that cigarettes are unhealthy and repugnant will permeate the rooms as quickly as second-hand smoke.

Melissa Yam, a junior, offered a sneak preview of what to expect from her group. "We will be dressing up as advertisements for cigarette brands. So we'll be having fun with the kids, while at the same time educating them."

Benjamin praised the clever concept of having "Marlboro Man" and "Joe Camel" look-a-likes parody the ads specifically designed to tantalize young audiences, calling the idea an "eye-catcher" that would assuredly snatch the sixth graders' immediate attention.

Benjamin's group will physically demonstrate the effect of smoking on one's lungs. The students will place a cotton ball between two plastic soda bottles and then light a cigarette, simulating the inhalation of cigarette smoke through the lungs. They will then remove the cotton ball, which should bear the ugly stains of tar and nicotine. This demonstration was presented to the peers during their training.

Some students will also reminisce about the first time they were offered cigarettes, and how they either refused them or, after trying, decided they never wanted to again.

"We all experience peer pressure," said Yam. "We want to encourage the kids to be more strong-minded and avoid it, and to know the statistics."

Ultimately, although TATU is aimed at the sixth graders, it is more than likely that the high school peers will benefit too. "Research shows that some of these high school kids, in becoming a peer leader about this, cement their desire not to smoke," said Benjamin.

TATU is preparing to commence its second go-round of training, and is currently investigating which of the original schools that underwent training, such as Jericho, adopted the program.