Speaker gives students stark lesson about smoking

Frontiersman staff

PALMER – Students at Palmer Junior Middle School got a first-hand look at why smoking is so dangerous earlier this month.

PJMS teacher Linda Jo Klapperich helped coordinate an appearance by guest speaker Michael Patterson, who came to the school to speak about the dangers of smoking. Patterson is a national motivational speaker for the Centers for Disease Control who suffers from terminal COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder), a disease that forces him to use an oxygen tank. Patterson spoke with hundreds of students and fielded questions about how smoking had harmed his life.

The event was supported by the State of Alaska Tobacco Prevention and Control Program and Alaska Family Services, which had staff on hand to speak with students about tobacco prevention.

Klapperich said Patterson’s speech was inspirational.

“He is passionate about helping others so they do not have to suffer like he is at this time because of his smoking,” Klapperich wrote in an email.

According to the state, 19 percent of Alaska adults are smokers, according to the most recent figures. Youth who reported smoking at least once in the past month was 11 percent, including 12 percent of females and 10 percent of males.

The state’s tobacco prevention program has four goals: Eliminating exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, identifying and eliminating disparities experienced by population groups relative to tobacco and its use, promoting quitting among youth and adults, and preventing initiation of tobacco use among young people.

Anyone hoping to quit smoking can call the Alaska Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669).

For more information about ways to prevent smoking, visit dhss.alaska.gov/dph/chronic/pages/tobacco/default.aspx.