Tobacco.org

Schools to have tobacco monitors 

ill now, schools had class monitors -- students chosen to maintain classroom decorum. But with nearly 1 in 10 school children aged 13-15 years consuming some form of tobacco, a concerned health ministry is now planning to introduce a new concept -- tobacco monitors. A strategy to involve the youth in India's fight against tobacco, these tobacco monitors will not only act as peer educators to deter their classmates from smoking but will also have the power to check bags for tobacco products. Tobacco education is also being made part of the school curriculum to make students aware on the ill-effects of smoking. According to health ministry officials, the idea's feasibility is being studied in a pilot anti-tobacco school programme, which was recently initiated in 18 districts of nine states.

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