Tar Wars: Reaching Kids Before That First Cigarette

This year, the AAFP Congress of Delegates once again affirmed the importance of the Academy's Tar Wars tobacco-free education program and directed the AAFP to continue seeking outside funding to further the program's growth. The AAFP Congress of Delegates has grappled with this issue three times this decade, and each time, it definitively voted to support Tar Wars.

It's easy to explain why the program deserves the "yes" votes it has received, and why its continued growth would benefit communities and the family physicians who serve them.

As family physicians, we know how hard it is for tobacco users to quit -- and how often they die from tobacco-related conditions. I'm sure you'll agree that the best approach with tobacco is to avoid using the substance in the first place. To be effective, however, we have to reach potential users early in life. More than 14 percent of students who responded to the 2007 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey reported they smoked a whole cigarette for the first time before age 13.

Kids need to hear from you before someone offers them that first cigarette, because once they become tobacco users, they find it just as hard to quit as do adults. An analysis of data from the 2007 survey found that more than 60 percent of students who had ever been daily smokers tried to quit, but only 12 percent were successful.

What's the best way to reach preteens with a tobacco-free message that sticks? That's where Tar Wars comes in. It gives you the materials you need to make a memorable, interactive presentation to fourth- and fifth-grade students in your local schools. Tar Wars is the only program of its type currently offered by a medical specialty society, and it is consistent with the CDC's guidelines for school health programs to prevent tobacco use.

Even more important, making a Tar Wars presentation is easy and satisfying for you, effective for kids and fun for everyone. It helps students learn about the short-term, image-based effects of tobacco use and encourages critical thinking about tobacco advertising. In addition, making the presentation enhances your practice's reputation as a supporter of kids, the school and the community.

I know because I've made the presentation several times myself, sometimes in front of my own kids' classes, sometimes accompanied by a medical student preceptee. I had a blast each time. Before each presentation, I spent about half an hour reviewing the Tar Wars materials and then walked into the school well prepared to be an expert for those students. For months afterward, kids and their parents would mention the presentation when I met them in the community.

Quantitative and qualitative research confirms that Tar Wars presentations can be an effective part of a school's comprehensive tobacco prevention education plan. A recent study found that youngsters had a significant improvement in correct responses on the post-test after a Tar Wars presentation, compared with their answers on the pre-test. Focus groups and telephone interviews show that students, presenters and teachers agreed they liked the Tar Wars presentations and that new learning occurred.

The Tar Wars impact doesn't end after your presentation, either. Afterward, kids are encouraged to create tobacco-free posters and enter them in the Tar Wars poster contest at their school, which can lead to the state and national poster contests and attendance at the annual Tar Wars National Conference in Washington, D.C. I attended the conference for the past two years, and it was truly amazing.

The bottom line is that Tar Wars is primary prevention at its best. As chair of the Tar Wars Program Advisors panel, I appreciate your support of Tar Wars and encourage you to learn more about it, and then to do two things:

The AAFP Foundation is working to secure the ideal long-term funding solution: a large gift to create an endowment that would support Tar Wars and the AAFP's other tobacco-related programs. Until that occurs, however, member donations are crucial -- and Tar Wars needs more donations than it's been getting. While members often voice strong support for Tar Wars, in a recent AAFP member survey, less than 3 percent of respondents reported donating to the national Tar Wars program. Please put your money where your heart is, and help us raise that percentage!

As a special thank-you, members who donate at least $50 to support the national Tar Wars program will receive an attractive lapel pin that says, "I Support Tar Wars."

It's also important to support Tar Wars at the chapter level, but in the member survey, only 15 percent of respondents reported donating to their chapter's Tar Wars effort. Talk to your state coordinator about making a donation.

Ron Blum, M.D., is chair of the Tar Wars Program Advisors panel and a member of the AAFP Commission on Health of the Public and Science