Interior Health (IH) has launched a youth poster contest, Take a Breath: Teen Voices on Tobacco and Vaping for youth living in the Interior region.
Different from many other campaigns that focus exclusively on the health concerns of using these products, this contest asks youths to share their perspective on the issue.
In Take a Breath, teens enrolled in grades 8 to 12 are invited to submit an original artwork in the form of a poster in one of five themes.
Themes include important facts about smoking and vaping; the importance of ceremonial tobacco; strategies used by tobacco and vaping companies to promote their products; how these products impact teens’ lives; and the environmental impact of tobacco and vaping.
The contest was developed by the Tobacco and Vapour Reduction Team at IH to be a fresh, innovative approach for engaging with youth in meaningful conversations about tobacco use and vaping and how it affects them and their friends, family, school, community and environment.
The team worked in collaboration with teens from the McCreary Centre Society, who will also serve as judges in selecting the winners for the contest. The intention is to recruit and share messages that are made by youth for youth.
Teens who want to participate have until Nov. 15 to submit their entries for a chance to win a $150 gift card of their choice. The artwork and messages of the winning posters will be celebrated and recognized by being professionally printed and posted in schools and communities across the IH region.
More information on how to enter the contest can be found at www.interiorhealth.ca/takeabreath.
McCreary Centre Society is a non-government nonprofit committed to improving the health of B.C. youth through research, evaluation and community-based projects.
