My name is Ellianna M., and I am an upcoming junior at Mora High School. During the beginning of my sophomore year, I unknowingly made one of the best decisions in my life. It was a commitment to help stop the sale and prevent further use of tobacco products by minors.  Being an activist with Evolvement has changed so much for me, even if I have only been involved for one year. I am proud to announce that I was also recently accepted to be part of the 2020-2021 leadership team. I’m extremely excited to make an even bigger impact, especially in my hometown. Changing my community begins by making my school district into a 100% tobacco-free zone.

To begin, it is important to me that schools go completely tobacco-free because a life with and a life without tobacco products are two completely different lives. About 90% of the people addicted to tobacco products began using before they were 18 years old. This may mean that if a program such as Evolvement had been around while those 90% were still minors, the number of people addicted could have decreased gradually. As a student myself, I feel strongly against the use of tobacco products by my fellow peers. I do not believe they understand the full risk of using tobacco products, especially at this age. My grandpa suffered from stage 4 lung cancer as a result of smoking cigarettes all his life, beginning at age 12. Had he not begun using at such a young age, he may still be with us today.

To sum it up, having a tobacco-free policy at a school district would highly improve the school environment along with the community.  For example, students would do better in school, focus more time on important things such as getting into college, and in general, everyone’s health would benefit. Overall, our goal by enforcing a tobacco-free policy at schools is to stop minors from using tobacco products. Needless to say, a strong discipline policy will also be enforced!

1. Blog
2. A Decision that Changed My Life Could Improve Many Others