The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : School students turn crusaders against tobacco and alcohol

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 06, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

School students turn crusaders against tobacco and alcohol

Staff Reporter

They captivated visitors with catchy slogans at an exhibition held at Agarwal Vidyalaya

LASTING IMPRESSION: Children leave an imprint on a canvas to wish for speedy recovery of a known cancer patient at an exhibition conducted by non-governmental organisation CanStop in Chennai on Saturday. — PHOTO: M. VEDHAN

CHENNAI : `If you drink liquor, death will grab you quicker' goes one message; `Drink a sip and lose your grip' went another. Apart from a plenty of one-liners such as these, fact-sheets, thermocol models and videoclips made up an effective arsenal for school children in a campaign against cancer on Saturday.

Students from 17 city schools participated in the two-day exhibition hosted at Agarwal Vidyalaya, Vepery, by Can-Stop, a city-based non-governmental organisation. The show is aimed at creating awareness of various aspects of cancer and the importance of healthy lifestyles.

Tobacco and alcohol abuse were portrayed as arch villains behind innumerable deaths every year.

Smokers beware! Cancer develops in 4.6 per cent of those who smoke a packet a day, 8.6 per cent of those who smoke 10-19 cigarettes and 18.77 per cent of chain-smokers (40 cigarettes and more a day).

If charts and diagrams fail to dissuade, students of Jessie Moses Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Anna Nagar have tried to step up the shock value with a dressed-up skeleton on the deathbed — cigarette jutting out from the corner of a mouth and a near-empty whisky bottle on a bedside stool.

Student volunteers of Leo Matriculation Higher Secondary, Sir MCTM Trust Matriculation Higher Secondary or Alagappa schools turned fluent ambassadors of a healthy lifestyle. Details were available on oral cancer, its symptoms and prevention. Most student groups had spent a few days to two weeks putting together an authentic material for the cause.

"We have also planned a cycle of quiz contests for college students on the broad theme of health with focus on cancers leading up to Survivors' Day in November," said Vijaya Bharathi Rangarajan of CanStop. Programmes scheduled for Sunday include college-level quiz, slogan-writing and painting contests.

According to Sangamitra, a medical social worker with CanStop, the exhibition formed part of the NGO's efforts to send out a positive message to those living with cancer.

The enthusiasm levels of the children can surprise even a casual visitor. At one stall, a rather elaborate presentation on the ills of tobacco concludes with a polite enquiry whether the visitor smokes. If he does, he is promptly advised to kick the habit; if he belongs to the community of non-smokers, he is probably a candidate to be goaded into the crusade.

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