Are You a Tattoo?

Tattoo? National Honor Society (NHS) members going for tattoo training? Is that right?

Not really. Columbia Adventist Academy's (CAA) NHS members went for TATU training on Tuesday, Feb. 25, with about 100 other local high school students. Each learned to be a TATU, or Teen Against Tobacco Usage, during a day conference about teaching fifth- and sixth-graders the dangers of tobacco use through school-to-school presentations.

During the short conference, students learned about all the chemicals used in tobacco products, including those found in household items such as nail polish remover, ant and rat poison, Tilex, butane and other strong chemicals. All of those are in cigarettes! Pretty scary, huh? If that wasn't enough, the effects of these chemicals on the body were shown. An informational video told of people who had their voice box removed, along with having limbs amputated because of poor circulation, both due to smoking cigarettes. The pictures were quite graphic, causing moans and groans around the room.

NHS members now plan to visit CAA’s feeder schools (Kelso/Longview, Meadow Glade and Riverside elementary schools) to educate students about tobacco’s devastating effects on its users.

Featured in: July 2003

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