America’s Youth Will ‘Kick Butts’ On April 14, 1999
Teens Plan Largest-Ever Tobacco Control Youth Initiative; Hundreds of Events Expected
October 15, 1998
Washington, DC - Thousands of kids are launching plans for the fourth annual Kick Butts Day, a nationwide, multi-city initiative that empowers young people to join the fight against tobacco. Aimed at curbing tobacco use among kids and exposing harmful youth-targeted marketing tactics, Kick Butts Day mobilizes America’s kids as leaders and advocates. Kick Butts Day 1999, to be held on April 14, is expected to include young people in all 50 states staging a variety of anti-tobacco activities, such as: ? Legislative activities – students testify before state legislators or organize rallies in front of their state capitols; ? Undercover Buying Operations – kids go undercover to bust illegal sales of tobacco to minors; ? Merchandise Dumps – students put tobacco in its place by tossing piles of products bearing tobacco brand names into garbage dumpsters; ? Mock Trials for Mr. Butts – kids stage unique courtroom trials to put Mr. Butts – the Kick Butts Day mascot – behind bars. “Young people are powerful allies in the fight against tobacco because they’re creative, resourceful and committed. Kids are especially good at creating change when thousands of them speak as a unified voice, as they do on Kick Butts Day,” said Bill Novelli, president of the CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS, which co-sponsors the initiative in conjunction with New York City Public Advocate Mark Green. Kick Butts Day 1998 included more than 400 events and generated significant attention among policy makers, business leaders, the media, and, perhaps most importantly, other kids. Just picture: ? Hundreds of kids in Denver filling giant baby bottles with cigarette butts and presenting them to officials at City Hall and the state Capitol; ? Black-garbed youth in South Carolina observing a day of silence as a memorial to the thousands of young smokers who will die prematurely from tobacco-related disease; ? Kids in Juneau, Alaska chasing Joe Camel over a three-mile course, right out of town! For a free Kick Butts Day activity guide, or other information, write: CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS (Attn: Activity Guide), 1707 L Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036, or fax a request to 202-296-5427. To submit a request online, visit http://www.kickbuttsday.org. For more information on tobacco and kids, visit the CAMPAIGN’s web site at http://www.tobaccofreekids.org. The Washington, D.C.-based CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS is the largest initiative ever undertaken to decrease youth tobacco use in the United States. Its mandate is to focus the nation's attention and action on keeping tobacco marketing from seducing children, and making tobacco less accessible to kids.