Denise Pitchford
By Denise Pitchford
As an educator, I have committed my life to serving high school-aged students at risk. We prefer to call them “at promise.” Given the support, encouragement, and resources they need these students are working to achieve the promise, hope, and dreams for a better future. My students are 16-21 in age who struggle in the traditional academic school setting. They are enrolled in our program because of truancy, being single parents, or because they are two or more years behind in reading and math.
Our job is to break through the barriers that can prevent students from thriving. As the director of education, I help students develop their post high school plan for success. These plans contain health goals, such as staying free from substance use, including tobacco and marijuana. After they’ve developed and are ready to implement their post high school plan, we impress on them the importance of not allowing their dreams and goals to be derailed by poor choices, being afraid to ask for help, or from being in poor health caused by alcohol, drug or tobacco use.
It’s not uncommon for the school day to begin with fire alarms going off from students entering the building while smoking or vaping. We take disciplinary actions for students caught with tobacco, alcohol, or drugs on school property. Our biggest tobacco problems are nicotine pouches, vapes and cigarillos. JUUL, Black & Milds and Swisher Sweets are the most popular products. I am sad, angry, and frustrated by this. We put so much effort into getting them on the right track for success which substance abuse can undo.
They are hooked on tobacco, even before puberty because they are bombarded with tobacco advertising and/or live in a household of people who smoke. One study in Milwaukee found that tobacco retailers were 3x more likely to be located within 500 feet of schools in Black and Brown neighborhood.
Some people believe that vaping and tobacco shouldn’t be a priority, especially when working with at-risk youth who are dealing with some many other stressors. This belief couldn’t be further from the truth. Each year in Wisconsin, 9,300 children under the age of 18 will try cigarettes for the first time. And e-cigarette use among youth is still a growing problem. According to recent tobacco data for Wisconsin, one in six (16.5%) of high schoolers use tobacco, a large majority of them using vapes. On a daily basis, students are using or being exposed to nicotine. This puts them at risk for a lifelong addiction to tobacco which is known to cause chronic diseases, illness, and death. Why would we want that for my students that we’ve invested so much into getting them on the path to success?
In Wisconsin, nearly 8,000 adults dies each year from smoking. Most of these people started smoking as young people. Again, I don’t want this for my students. Flavors, including menthol and mint, are appealing to youth. They also help to mask the harshness of tobacco and make it easier for youth to initiate tobacco use and more difficult to quit. These products are marketed heavily in low-income neighborhoods and to youth.
There are proven programs that help youth not initiate tobacco use and also cessation programs to help those who want to quit. The CDC and FDA provides funding to states to implement these programs. They also provide mass media campaigns and national data surveillance to help educate and monitor tobacco use among our youth. This is critical data needed for program implementers and educators.
Unfortunately, federal funding cuts from the CDC and FDA put these programs at risk. Now is not the time to abandon at risk youth, or any youth. Join me in calling on Senator Tammy Baldwin, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, to protect tobacco prevention and cessation programs.