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Students learn to kick tobacco habit Photo by Jim Craven Eagle Point High senior Jolene Wilson, who's gone two weeks without a cigarette, blows up a "Kick Butts Day" balloon during a 10-week pilot program that addresses the differing reasons behind teen boys' and girls' smoking habits. Eagle Point High offers pilot program BY VICKI GUARINO Two weeks down, and Jolene Wilson finds the going a bit easier. The Eagle Point High School senior is the only one in the room who has managed to go so long without a cigarette. Others in the school's smoking cessation class say they're smoking fewer cigarettes, but they hold onto the habit even as they learn more and more about the damage they're causing. "I'm really going downhill," says freshman Laura Allyn. She blames cigarettes for the pain in her chest and declining athletic performance. Jolene and Laura are among the first in a pilot program launched by the American Lung Association a few weeks ago to reach teenage smokers. The program is the first to split girls and boys into separate classes, in recognition of what researchers say are the distinctly different reasons boys and girls start smoking and the different ways they can quit. "There are generalities about why boys and girls (smoke)," says the state coordinator for the new program, Paula Christensen. "I hate generalities, but no other programs targets these differences." And the differences, she says, are distinct. Boys who smoke seem influenced by peer pressure. Typically, they are not athletic and are on the fringes of social groups. Girls who smoke are more inclined to say cigarettes help them cope with stress, control weight, and look cool. Most of the girls in the Eagle Point class say smoking helps them relax. Stands to reason, says Christensen, that a program to get kids to quit should address those underlying feelings and attitudes. So in boys' classes, time is spent exploring issues of self-confidence and confidence building. Girls talk about stress and developing new coping skills. Both groups learn in detail about the damage cigarettes cause, and the physical process of addiction that makes quitting so hard. Classes meet one hour a week for 10 weeks. High school smokers working with the University of West Virginia helped design the curriculum. For Jolene, learning to control stress, especially at work, has been a matter of self-awareness and teaching herself not get riled in frustrating situations. "Willpower and patience," she says, are crucial to quitting. Whether boys or girls, educators have cause to be concerned about their students who smoke, says Eagle Point school district nurse Carol Huffman, who leads the girls' portion of the pilot program. Over the years, health studies have shown that tobacco does far more damage to youths than adults. One of the most resent studies, released earlier this month by the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, found that smokers who picked up the habit as teenagers are at greater risk of developing lung cancer that adult smokers. This study for the first time showed genetic damage -- damage to lung tissue DNA -- among smokers who started young. Adult smokers also had DNA abnormalities, but not as many as youths. "There is something uniquely bad about starting young," the study concludes. Huffman has her class go through the report, as well as other studies pinpointing other risks to young smokers. For instance, she says, the younger the smoker is, the more likely he or she is to continue smoking for many more years. That tendency is the reason Huffman began offering the classes as part of the school's curriculum several years ago. She signed up for the Lung Association's pilot program, she says, "because I'm always looking for something new." Classes began in February at Eagle Point. Social studies teacher Bill Kachmarick leads the boys' sessions. The school is one of 15 around the state to participate in the pilot effort. Lung Association officials say they will evaluate the curriculum and outcome at the end of the 10-week term. Any resulting modifications will be incorporated into the second round of the program, which will start in the fall at an additional 25 schools. The association is taking applications from high schools for the fall term Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA