PURPOSE:

To raise youth  awareness about tobacco industry fraud and misconduct through secondary school students mentoring elementary school pupils.

METHOD:

Actual tobacco documents made available for the first time through recent litigation are provided for review and discussion. Some examples of tobacco industry's own documents used include those illustrating how:

* quit rate for employees in smoke-free workplaces increases by 25% and the most lenient workplace smoking restrictions cost the tobacco industry over $200 million a year in profit (in 1984);

* so-called "light" cigarettes have been deliberately engineered to fool smoking machines and give false low readings when tested for levels of tar and nicotine - some actually contain higher levels of tar and nicotine than regular brands;

* one brand of cigarettes claiming to be "smokeless" contains fibreglass, particles of which are  inhaled directly into the smoker's lungs;

* in 1982, a tobacco executive admitted spit tobacco causes oral cancer;

* a Hollywood actor agreed to receive payment from one tobacco company of $500,000 in 1983 to smoke in no less than five feature films;

* a 1976 document describes how cigarette tobacco is deliberately treated with carefully measured quantity of ammonia which results in freebasing of nicotine, maximizing its addictiveness;

* one tobacco company's bestselling brand sold thirteen billion cigarettes over four years, claiming its filter was a "health aid". Filters in these cigarettes contained crocidolite asbestos;

* Hollywood is used by the tobacco industry to portray smoking as "normal" to children (e.g. smoking characters in the Muppet Movie and Who Framed Roger Rabbit);

* one tobacco company referred to 14-19 year olds and disadvantaged sectors of society as S.C.U.M. (Sub Culture Urban Marketing);

* linked reading to relevant pages in You Are The Target (Big Tobacco: Lies, Scams - Now The Truth) for further independent research and discussion;

GOAL:

To provide additional motivation for youth to resist taking up smoking and when this has not happened, to provide additional motivation (i.e. outrage at the tobacco industry for their lies and manipulation) to assist in smoking cessation.

RESOURCES: 

You Are The Target (Big Tobacco: Lies, Scams - Now The Truth), by Georgina Lovell

Project Moving Target companion classroom curriculum, by Georgina Lovell

Optional Visual Aid: One-litre glass jar containing molasses: representing the equivalent of the quantity of tar inhaled in particulate form by a pack a day smoker in one year. Molasses is similar in volume and consistency to tobacco tar.

Section 1: Tobacco Advertising - Truth or Dare? (10 tobacco advertisements, 1 lesson plan)

Section 2: Project SCUM - Do They Mean You? (1 complete document, 1 lesson plan)

Section 3: Tobacco Silence & Science - Why Tell the Truth When Lies Sound Better? (4 documents, 4 lesson plans)

Section 4: "FUBYAS" - Find Out What One Tobacco Company Calls You ! (2 documents, 2 lesson plans)

Section 5: Tobacco Companies Pretend Smoking is Normal - Tobacco sponsors community events and pays Hollywood for "product placement" (1 document, 10 tobacco advertisements/1 lesson plan)
PROJECT MOVING TARGETŪ
TOBACCO AWARENESS PEER MENTOR WORKSHOP
Project Moving TargetŪ
(including the book You Are The Target: Big Tobacco.  Lies, Scams - Now The Truth) 
has been approved by the U.S. Dept. of Education
and complies with CDC Guidelines for
School Health Programs to Prevent Tobacco Use and Addiction.
Moving Target launched in Canada October 2, 2002 with education grant
Moving Target youth mentors receive civic award for community service
Moving Target sample lesson plans
Moving Target youth mentors: hear what they have to say!
Become a Moving Target Facilitator!  more workshop information