1998 Award Winners National Winner East Mid-West Central South West Group Award

The New York City-based S.H.O.C.K. (Saving the Health of Our Communities and Kids) Coalition is the first recipient of the CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS’ 1998 Group Youth Advocates of the Year Award. The nationwide competition recognizes outstanding youth advocacy efforts by young tobacco control activists. The Coalition received the title in Washington, DC on April 30, 1998.

S.H.O.C.K., founded in 1996 and operated in partnership with the Brooklyn Diocese Drug Abuse Prevention Program and the New York State Youth Partnership for Health, has spearheaded many important tobacco control initiatives. Coalition members testified at hearings and collected 4,200 signatures to encourage passage of the recently enacted Youth Protection Against Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act, a measure prohibiting tobacco advertising within 1,000 feet of any school, playground, or child care facility in New York City. Members have also orchestrated anti-tobacco letter-writing campaigns, counseled youngsters on the hazards of tobacco use, and encouraged local kids to become advocates in the fight against teen tobacco use. Coalition members attend St. Francis Prep High School, Waldorf School of Garden City, Hauppauge High School, and Half Hollow Hills High School East in Dix Hills. The group’s young members frequently act as peer educators, encouraging students in New York City schools to become young tobacco control advocates and to adopt smoke-free lives. S.H.O.C.K. has been recognized for its efforts by New York State Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco and New York City Public Advocate Mark Green.

In observance of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, 1998, S.H.O.C.K. members plan to collaborate with other teen tobacco control advocates to stage an anti-tobacco event at the World’s Fair site in Queens. They will observe a seven-minute silence symbolizing the amount of time each cigarette takes off of a smoker’s life.