Almost 90 percent of adult smokers begin smoking at or before age 18, and the initiation of daily smoking most often begins in grades 6 through 9, according to the National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse. Because of these statistics and many others that show the importance of reaching young people with information on the dangers of tobacco usage, The Cancer Program of Our Lady of the Lake and Mary Bird Perkins’ Head and Neck and Lung Multidisciplinary Care (MDC) teams, with funding from the Our Lady of the Lake Foundation, have provided the East Baton Rouge Parish School System with lifelike models and information depicting the toll tobacco can take on the body.  The donation can service three schools.

With items such as Mr. Gross Mouth and Fat Furred Artery, the hope is the learning tools will make a dramatic statement to the students that tobacco is dangerous. The information will be aimed at middle school students, since that is an age group that may begin experimenting with tobacco.

“For this effort, our MDC teams wanted to get in front of the issue instead of the cessation part after the fact. If kids never begin smoking, they never have to quit. And when the OLOL Foundation heard about this initiative, they wanted to be involved. This was a real opportunity for us to all make a difference,” said Marilyn Shalley-Damberg, Multidisciplinary Cancer Care manager for The Cancer Program of Our Lady of the Lake and Mary Bird Perkins.

Shalley-Damberg (pictured, right) recently presented the education materials to Ken Jenkins (left), director of Student Activities for the School System.

“These materials will go a long way in helping to make a dramatic statement to our students that tobacco usage can lead to some nasty side effects,” Jenkins said. “You can’t be subtle with messages like this. You have to get their attention. We appreciate the MDC teams’ and OLOL Foundation’s efforts on our behalf.”