February 17, 2002

It’s been a while since either of us has written in this journal that we make public. This last week I taught a class with all of my students about the dangers of smoking and how to quit. I prepared for the lesson, also preparing myself for some groans and rolling eyes because they had learned most or all of this information previously. I soon learned I was the first teacher to ever teach about this subject to them. Smoking here has become part of life – whether it’s to relieve stress or because your friends and family also smoke, it’s impossible to go to a gathering of people without being engulfed by smoke. On the positive end, it was really exciting to teach something new and so immediate to their daily experiences. This wasn’t grammar or literature; it was in the front of their minds as they are now making decisions that will affect the habits and patterns of the rest of their life.

After the lesson, I had many kids come up to me and thank me for teaching about this subject. Wow! This information that seems so commonplace to me had never been passed on to them. For two minutes I asked them to breathe through a straw to imagine what emphysema is like. That got their attention. Many of my 8^th class students pledged to me that they would never smoke. My older, 11^th class students took the information in stride and some thanked me. Since many of my students already smoke they got a little fidgety and tried to laugh it off, but I think the lesson got across, one way or another. Not only was it engaging for them, but I was also engaged by their interest and honest questions at the end of the lesson. We had to clear up a few misconceptions and some bad information but I saw some raw learning going on. It was exciting to fill a gap that had yet to be filled. When we discussed how much money can be saved by quitting smoking, one girl came up to me after class and said, “Mister, if my parents didn’t smoke, we’d be rich!” We both laughed.