By Katie Knapp Schubert
Omaha, NE – The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services says more than 18 percent of ninth through 12th graders in Nebraska smoked cigarettes in 2009.
A program in the Omaha Public Schools seeks to keep young people from smoking through outreach by their peers. Youth Congress began six years ago. Four times during the school year, students in three grades meet to discuss real-world strategies for drug prevention.
Toni Hernandez is a Drug Prevention Specialist for the Omaha Public Schools. She says minors who smoke are beginning that habit at a younger age. "We know that there are teens that are using, we know that the average age that children try a drug now is 11 and a half. So that's pretty scary. So by sixth grade it could be too late to prevent the use for some students."
Hernandez says the goal is for students to go back to their respective schools with ideas for preventing or reducing the use of tobacco. Students are chosen by their school's administrators and guidance counselors for the program.