Rockwood students aim to convince lawmakers to enact public smoking ban

Several Rockwood School District middle school students are trying to convince both local and state lawmakers to support a public smoking ban.

 On April 30, dozens of middle school students from Rockwood Valley Middle School and Selvidge Middle School traveled to Jefferson City where they attended a miniature legislative session to make a presentation of their research on public smoking bans to various esteemed judges. Both Rockwood schools scored top marks, with Rockwood Valley selected to present its portfolio at a national competition.  

The trip was part of Project Citizen, a middle school voluntary civic education program designed to develop interest in public policymaking and the ability to participate competently and responsibly in government. The students chose the public smoking ban issue after investigating public policies related to tobacco as part of their schools’ Youth Empowerment in Action (YEA) curriculum this semester. 

“Personally, I am in support of a public smoking ban because I don’t like breathing smoke,” Rockwood Valley student Emily Weinhold said. “Smokers need to be aware they are causing health problems in others and not just themselves.”

Weinhold, who was among four seventh-grade students presenting on behalf of her school, began with problems associated with second-hand smoke, including its health risks, such as lung cancer and heart disease. She next presented the following results from a survey of approximately 1,100 Rockwood Valley-area households on the issue:

* 82 percent indicated they are disturbed by second-hand smoke. 

* 95 percent believe others are bothered by smoking in restaurants.

* 68 percent think others are aware of the consequences of second-hand smoke.

* 83 percent are bothered by smokers in restaurants.

Weinhold also said states that have a smoking ban have lower death rates than those without smoking bans. 

Student Alison Dunavant presented alternative policies to solve the issue, beginning with a possible smoking ban in the city of Wildwood. While that idea could spark opposition from some business owners, it has the support of the U.S. Surgeon General, she said. 

“My Mom, who smokes, agrees with the smoking ban in public because she does not want others to be affected by her choice,” Dunavant said. 

Dunavant also said that 75 percent of Ballwin residents surveyed in the wake of that municipality’s smoking ban support it, along with the mayors of several other area municipalities who are urging a St. Louis County-wide public smoking ban. 

Dunavant then presented the alternative, a statewide ban, which she said has the benefit of improving employee health, thereby saving on illness costs. While she said one weakness of this alternative is forcing smokers to go outside in winter, Dunavant said five of eight of Missouri’s neighboring states already ban smoking in public. 

“We could help influence other states that have not made big strides,” Dunavant said. 

Student Phillip Underwood presented a policy, researched from other states’ smoking bans, which the students created for Wildwood. It would ban smoking in restaurants and workplaces, with some exceptions for certain bars and nightclubs. The policy would require smokers to be 25 feet outside a front door and allow smoking in restaurants’ designated outside patio areas, Underwood said. 

“We really need to get this in place because there are 53,800 deaths per year from second-hand smoke,” Underwood said. “That’s a lot.”

Student Ben Lawrence shared an action plan presented in May to the Wildwood City Council. That action plan includes rallying community support, writing letters to the editors of major area newspapers and presenting a petition of signatures supporting a smoking ban to city officials. The goal is to get the Wildwood City Council to pass a public smoking ban, Lawrence said. 

“My Mom and grandmother smoked, and I would not even go into the basement where there was a plasma TV because there was too much smoke,” Lawrence said. “Now they quit, so the air is clear.”

Rockwood Valley teacher Becky Forristal said Project Citizen was so successful that she plans to implement it into the school curriculum next year.