The Be Tobacco Free workshop is an effective tool that we have available to introduce children to the health hazards of smoking. This is a novel approach where the children will have the opportunity to "prove it to themselves" through hands-on experiments and interactive demonstrations instead of having someone "preach" the facts. In addition, when students are already familiar with the Mad Science program, which provides an additional level of trust and credibility.
Benefits to the teachers... Mad Science comes with all the equipment and supplies, and staff. Plus a complete teacher's package is available and full of ideas to help integrate the topic presented into the language arts, social studies, math, and creative arts curriculum.
Benefits to the students... Children will be empowered to make the difficult decision whether or not to try smoking based on the scientific facts instead of peer pressure alone. Since the students will be learning about the health hazards through their own experiments, they are more likely to take this into consideration in making decisions later in life.
