People calling the number will receive a free information pack and can speak to a trained cessation advisor. A briefing pack for professionals will also be available. Stopping young people starting Considerable emphasis is being placed on measures to stop young people starting to smoke. The reasons why young people begin to smoke are complex. Influences include parental attitude, tobacco use by siblings and friends, peer pressure, the natural tendency of young teenagers to experiment, ease of access to tobacco products, and the promotion and marketing of these products.
Educational campaigns are important in making young people aware of the health risks of smoking.
One of the prime aims of activities targeted at children is to delay the onset of experimentation for as long as possible. This means that the intervention must reach children before they reach secondary school age. The revamped club will be renamed Smokebugs and will be targetted at children in the last two years of primary education. Two prevention projects are being run in secondary schools. One, the SmokeFree Class Competition, is aimed at 11 to 13 year olds.