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Tobacco—I’m Not Buying It Video Contest for Students

By Karen Geney, VP Human Resources

What would you buy with an extra $1000?  That’s the grand prize in the Tobacco—I’m Not Buying It video contest introduced March 8 by the U.S. Surgeon General's Office and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Office on Smoking and Health.

Dr. Regina Benjamin, the U.S. Surgeon General, released a report called Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults. This report details the scope, health consequences and influences that lead to youth tobacco use and proven strategies that prevent its use.  Read more about the report in this press release.

The Video Contest was designed to engage youth and young adults in developing original videos that feature one or more of the report’s findings.  Young people need to hear from other young people about tobacco and why they aren't "buying it." 

More than 3.5 million people under the age of 18 smoke cigarettes.  That's right, 3.5 million—600,000 middle school students and 3,000,000 high school students who smoke.  This is very disturbing since tobacco is the leading cause of preventable and premature death, killing more than 1,200 Americans every day.  After years of steady decline, use of tobacco products by youth and young adults shows signs of increasing.

According to the report, "Expenditures for marketing and promotion of tobacco products exceed $1 million an hour – over $27 million a day – in the United States alone. Targeted messages and images that portray smoking as an acceptable, appealing activity for young people are widespread, and advertising for tobacco products is prominent in retail stores and online."

There are two age categories for the video contest.  The first is for students age 13-17 and the other is for adults age 18 to 25.  There are two language categories, English and Spanish, in each age category. There is a $1,000 grand prize in each category ($4,000 total) and three $500 prizes in each category ($6,000 total).

The videos must be 120 seconds or less in length.  April 20 is the deadline for submitting a video and winners will be announced by the end of May.  This is your chance to talk to your classmates and friends about why they shouldn't smoke AND perhaps even win a prize for doing so! To get all the submission requirements and additional information about creating your own prize-winning video, please visit www.challenge.gov.  And, if you do enter the contest, please let HoG know! We’d love to see your video.