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The 10-week program sponsored by the American Lung Association of New Jersey is designed specifically for teens and focused on helping them recognize why they started smoking and giving them the tools to stop. The association provides training for counselors, program curriculum and supplies as well as a machine that measures the levels of carbon monoxide in the participants' lungs. Collier also received a grant to be used at the discretion of the school administration to supplement the program. Training for counselors involves an all-day seminar at the American Lung Association's facility in Cranbury. "One thing that I learned in the seminar is that girls tend to smoke as a social thing," said Roseann Ambrosini, program assistant at Collier who ran the N-O-T program with Cynthia Darcy, the school's vice principal. "With the guys it's kind of a security thing. They go off and stand in a corner alone."
"Joe and Rebecca came to my office and wanted to know how it was going," Ambrosini said. "I told them and the next thing you knew, 12 students signed up. They (Joe and Rebecca) are really student leaders." The group was later pared down to eight participants though other students have been asking when the program will repeat. Moran admits he wasn't sure he was ready to break his habit when he originally joined. "First, I started to do (the program) when I went to Ms. A's office and she was upset `cause no one signed up for the club." But since he joined the program, Moran said he has learned things that have helped him cut back. "It's actually working," he said. " I went from close to two packs a day down to a pack, sometimes a pack and a half." The students agreed that it's usually older friends and relatives who first introduced them to cigarettes and later bought them for the underage smokers. Another common method for purchasing cigarettes is what the students called "shoulder tap." The teens would sit outside of convenience stores and ask other shoppers to get the cigarettes for them. Eventually someone would comply. At more than $5 a pack, the habit quickly overtook the young people's meager budgets. "My entire paycheck would go to cigarettes," Moran said. Then he joined an online service that would automatically ship him six cartons a month for a fraction of the typical cost. As part of the N-N-T program, he agreed to cancel the online service and went back to buying packs at the regular price. "I cut if off when I started the program," he said. "And now I'm like, "Oh my god, I've got to pay that!" Replacing smoking triggers with alternative activities is one of the program's key elements. The American Lung Association supplied the group with everything from lollypops to stress balls and Slinkys. Techniques such as exercise, deep breathing and meditation also are popular with the students for controlling urges. Kris Jordan, 15 Point Pleasant, describes one such technique she uses to combat temptation. "We close our eyes and imagine our favorite place we like to be, " Jordan said. "I would go to the Caribbean with my best friend. I Love it. I do it all the time." She admits she started smoking at the age of 12 "basically to rebel against my mom," she said. She decided to join the program "because I really needed to quit because of the money and I almost got kicked out of this school for smoking violations." Collier has a strict no-smoking policy that includes immediate suspension for those caught smoking on school grounds. The number of students being suspended or expelled from the school prompted the administration to look for a way to help the student kick the habit. For the first five weeks, the program focused on education and discussion. The students learned exactly what is in the cigarettes they smoke and how it affects their bodies. "When you find out what they put in the cigarettes and then you put one to your lips and then you think, oh maybe not," said Sarah Biechler, 14, Keyport. During the fifth week, they have a quitting ceremony where participants either try to quit completely or arrange for an amount to cut down. "The students have a lot of difficulties to overcome." Said Sister Ellen Kelly, executive director of Collier Services. "We hope to get them the tools to meet these challenges just like we do with the smoking program." Collier High School is part of the nonprofit, social service agency, Collier Services. It is an alternate school for students who have failed to thrive in their public school system. The 150 students from Monmouth, Middlesex, Ocean, Mercer, Somerset and Union counties must be recommended by their respective child study team. "These are youngsters who have a lot of gifts and talents and for whatever reasons weren't able to realize that," Kelly said. "Collier wants to give them the support." |
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Ending
cigarette dependency early is the mission of the
"Not-On-Tobacco" program at Collier High School, Marlboro.
Getting
students to join the voluntary, once a-week sessions was difficult at
first. "I just advertised all over the school and put up
posters," Ambrosini said. "Then I just waited. "For a while
there was no response. Finally, two seniors, Joe Moran, 17 Point Pleasant,
and Rebecca Goldman, 18, Somerset, inquired about the program.