LOCAL HOSPITALS TEAM WITH TEENS IN ANTI-TOBACCO EDUCATION EFFORT

OAKLAND - Youth church groups and local boys and girls clubs are the
primary target of a collaborative anti-tobacco education effort launched by
Summit Medical Center, Children's Hospital Oakland and Kaiser Permanente.
Backed by $5,000 from the Alameda County Tobacco Control Program and $1,000
from the American Cancer Society, the three hospitals designed a media
literacy project focused on smoking for children 11 to 14.

Next month, eight students will learn to spot deceptive advertising used by
tobacco manufacturers to entice young people into smoking, said Patti
Miller, public affairs director with Children's Hospital.

In pairs, the youth will visit five other teen organizations and become
peer educators, teaching their young colleagues how to steer clear of
manip- ulative tobacco advertisements.

Each will earn a $5 hourly stipend while participating in the main
training. Each youth group take pre- and after-tests to determine how much
they learned from their peers.

"Media literacy has definitely become really big in the last five to 10
years, Miller said. "Media have a lot of influence in people's lives. We
would like to expand this to include other public health issues like body
image, youth violence arid violence prevention.'

The project concludes in May when a 30-second public service announcement
about tobacco advertising tactics will air to demonstrate how cigarette
manufacturers try to hook teenage smokers.

Five young people, selected in addition to the eight chosen as peer
educators, will work with a local broadcast consultant to write and produce
the spot. Miller said.

With a potential to reach thousands of young people, the Oakland Youth
Media Literacy Project is filling an unmet need in Alameda County, where
public schools lack such educational tools, organizers say.

In the fall of 1995. Children's Hospital, Summit and Kaiser formed the East
Bay Collaborative to address community health needs.

The three hospitals have collaborated on a variety of projects. including
the present one on tobacco-use prevention.