She says youth from all over Wood County have decided to target younger kids. Like many other teen anti-smoking advocates, Wood County Health Educator Heather Erickson who also works with the youth alliance, remains skeptical of the latest study. In general, from my perspective, I look at the whole picture. There is still a problem with it. It's not just the percentage that we work.
Statistics can be misleading.
Erickson said the youth alliance is currently planning an Ad Watch campaign during which teens will survey local businesses, looking for ads targeting youth, and ads placed at eye level or where youth are most likely to see them. Wood County is not the only one taking a new look at the teen anti-smoking fight. Julie Hladky has worked with the Tobacco Free Portage County Coalition for eight years. We're able to expand our efforts because of a recent grant from the Thomas T. Melvin Fund, which is part of the tobacco settlement dollars set aside to work with teens. Central Wisconsin just became a new target area for the funds.