About StartSMART
StartSMART is a tobacco prevention program created by Danya International, Inc., designed to help middle school students refuse tobacco. The program emphasizes the ways young people can recognize and combat pro-smoking messages, including fun and engaging activities to learn about smoking’s misperceptions and recognize real-life pressures to smoke. StartSMART culminates in providing students with the tools necessary to develop an anti-tobacco advertisement using in-camera editing.
StartSMART includes a facilitator’s guide, a student workbook, two videos, an administrator’s guide, and parent materials. For more information, see program components. For information about training, click here.
StartSMART complements the seven recommendations for school-based smoking prevention developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which advocate schools to:
- Develop and enforce a school policy on tobacco use
- Provide instruction about the short- and long-term negative physiologic and social consequences of tobacco use, social influences on tobacco use, peer norms regarding tobacco use, and refusal skills
- Provide tobacco-use prevention education in kindergarten through 12th grade; this instruction should be especially intensive in junior high or middle school and should be reinforced in high school
- Provide program-specific training for teachers
- Involve parents or families in support of school-based programs to prevent tobacco use
- Support cessation efforts among students and all school staff who use tobacco
- Assess the tobacco-use prevention program at regular intervals
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Program Components
The facilitator’s curriculum consists of eight 45-minute sessions, including step-by-step goals, materials, and activities for each session. Once all sessions are completed, students will develop their own scripts and storyboards for an anti-tobacco advertisement, then film and view the result.
The student workbook presents concise instructions for each activity, with room for students to write notes and respond to questions. “That’s a Wrap” (take away) points are included at the end of every session.
A prevention video, divided into 8 sessions, illustrates anti-tobacco advertisements and provides instructions for students on how to develop effective ads of their own.
The facilitator video provides guided instruction for analyzing and developing anti-tobacco advertisements for each curriculum session. It is designed to teach students how to deconstruct ads, resulting in StartSMART consumers.
Five booster sessions reinforce lessons learned in the initial curriculum. Booster sessions are recommended to be incorporated into the school health curriculum a year after the completion of StartSMART program.
The StartSMART training workshop is a half-day workshop to ensure that school personnel have all the tools necessary to facilitate StartSMART in the classroom. It includes materials, session overviews, and helpful hints to produce quality anti-tobacco ads without access to studios or video editing equipment.
Parent support guides include a pamphlet, sample PowerPoint presentations for Parent Teacher Student Association meetings, and a take-home letter, all to assist parents as their children participates in the program. Also included is quitting advice and tips on how to talk to kids about smoking.
An implementation guide for administrators supports key stakeholders in adapting school environments to minimize tobacco use among youth. It includes roles and responsibilities, sample tobacco-free school policies, program calendars, and much more.
The StartSMART Web site provides information, tools, and games about tobacco. It serves as a place for students to submit their own StartSMART ads for a chance to win prizes and school recognition.