Anti-smoking Awareness Program (ASAP) for 7th And 8th Grade Teens
National Commission on Youth Protection & Hanyang University
THE CHALLENGE
Talking to teenagers about a sensitive social issue
So far, research on smoking has focused mostly on the development and evaluation of treatment programs, with a one-way, provider-focused approach, and these programs are considered to have failed to produce significant effects by applying for the program uniformly, considering smokers are the same motivation or preparation to correct their smoking behavior. According to Kim Bong-jung (2000), 81.6 percent of the total non-smoking measures used by non-smoking people had the highest willpower of 81.6 percent, and according to American Cancer Society (1986), 90 percent of the 370,000 smokers who succeeded in quitting smoking in the U.S. stopped smoking in self-helpful ways. Along with the study of the effectiveness of non-smoking self-help programs, studies have shown that the higher the self-efficacy and self-esteem, the higher the probability of non-flammable (Engels et al., 1998). Botvin et al. (1989) reported that the anti-smoking program had increased the effectiveness of smoking by introducing training to overcome anxiety. Orlens et al. (1991) said that the telephone call method is the best way to increase the rate of non-smoking, demonstrating the effectiveness of the call through expert interaction on non-smoking. Tsoh et al. (1997) stated that programs that include social support and encouragement for non-smoking, improvement in problem-solving ability, response skill training, and stress management would work.
THE SOLUTION
Understanding teenagers
Smoking prevention and non-smoking education are different in terms of the subject and content. For starters, smoking prevention education is a former student, while non-smoking education is a youth who is currently smoking. In the content of education, non-smoking training involves the restoration of nicotine’s addictive nature and the socio-psychological habit of smoking, but smoking prevention education does not require this process. Instead, smoking prevention education should find out the starting factors for teenagers and come up with effective measures to cope with them.
In Korea, almost all of the non-smoking education programs are focused on delivering knowledge about the harmful effects of smoking. The non-smoking education is based on the assumption that teenagers are starting to smoke because they are not familiar with the dangers of smoking. However, a report compiled by several international studies said that programs that mainly convey knowledge about the harmful effects of smoking are not valid. It has recently been found that smoking by teenagers is not due to a lack of understanding of the detrimental effects of smoking, but also because of the social and environmental impacts around them.
ASAP was developed on the basis of the following three theories: 1) Adolescents have the ability to recognize false social information (e.g., advertising, exaggerated assumptions about smoking rates); 2) they acquire skills that resist social pressures that smoking can be identified; and 3) Adolescents can recognize how the physical harm of smoking is related to their real life.
ASAP’s user survey used the Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire (FTQ), developed by Fagerstrom (1990), with proven validity and reliability. The tool is intended to evaluate the dependence of individuals on nicotine, consisting of a total of eight questions:
(1) How long do you smoke your first cigarette after you wake up in the morning?
(2) Is it difficult to put up with cigarettes in a non-smoking area, in a library, in a theater or a doctor’s office?
(3) What time of day is the most satisfactory cigarette?
(4) How many cigarettes do you smoke a day?
(5) Do you smoke more in the morning than in any other way?
(6) Do you smoke when you are sick enough to lie down?
(7) What is the nicotine content of your cigarette?
(8) Do you inhale tobacco smoke deeply?
The combined total score of each question is a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 11 points, and the higher the total score of each question, the greater the smoking activity. Based on the total score, we developed programs that could predict life according to the users’ smoking behavior and programs that could predict economic losses through smoking. We also explained questions about “what is smoking?”, “Teenagers and Smoking,” and “How to Quit Smoking” interactively, and allowed the user to enjoy fun games after the questions.
THE MINDSET
Influencing National Commission of Youth Protection
ASAP Content Development Factors Donated to Youth Protection Committee
1. Interactive Multimedia CD-Rom, a research study, conveys information about smoking and smoking to middle school students in a way that is easy to understand through the second person interaction.
2. To promote the continued impact of the anti-smoking program, ASAP has produced posters and screen savers to be posted at schools, PC rooms, game rooms, singing rooms and academies that middle school students frequently attend.
3. Also, ‘InfoCard’ is designed for students who try to quit smoking or students who are tempted to smoke, and always carry it to help resist smoking and temptation.
Responsibilities: chief researcher, content map, information hierarchy, flowchart, consulting, data analysis, lingo programming, interviews, surveys, briefings, questions, games, experience design, concept, storytelling, logotype, typography, layout, color, photography, and interactive multimedia CD-Rom.
