Prevention Programs
Girl Scouts Against Smokin
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We offer an interactive educational opportunity for Girl Scouts to earn their Girl Scouts Against Smoking badge. Whether they are Daisy, Brownie, Junior, Cadet, or Senior, we provide the staff and supplies free of charge. The girls simply pay $2 for their badges.
To request a presentation for a Girl Scout Troop call 815-774-7312. This program is only available while supplies last.
On my honor, I will try:
To help people at all times,
And to live by the Girl Scout Law.
Tar Wars
Tar Wars is a tobacco-free education program for 4th and 5th grade students. The lesson plan consists of a pre-activity exercise, a one-hour classroom presentation, and a follow up poster contest. During the classroom presentation, students will engage in a series of 6 activities designed to:
- Increase their knowledge of the short-term effects of tobacco use

- Illustrate the costs of using tobacco
- Help them identify reasons why people use tobacco
- Prompt them to think critically about tobacco advertising and how the tobacco industry markets their products to youth
This program, which is owned and operated by the American Academy of Family Physicians, is implemented in classrooms across the U.S. and abroad. The program is available September through February and can easily be incorporated into your daily classroom curriculum. To download a free copy of the Tar Wars program guide, go to www.tarwars.org or for more information about Will County's Tar Wars program click here.
To request a presentation, please call 815-774-7312 or download a faxable program request form.
Will County Tar Wars Links:
- Tar Wars radio interview
- 2010 1st place poster contest winner
- 2009 1st place poster contest winner
- 2008 1st place poster contest winner
Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU)
Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU) is a program that allows high school students to mentor youngsters about the dangers of smoking. Research indicates that teens enjoy opportunities to positively influence their younger counterparts. Consequently, this mentoring also serves to reinforce their decisions to remain smoke-free. Evidence suggests that peer-led programs such as TATU are
more effective in reducing tobacco use among youth. In elementary and middle schools, high school prevention presentations are a refreshing departure from the traditional lessons taught by adults. Also, TATU fulfills service learning/community service requirements for schools.
Teens involved in TATU have been shown to:
- Increase leadership and teaching skills.
- Develop skills needed to be advocates for a tobacco-free community.
- Increase the ability to recognize and identify the positive aspects of being tobacco-free.
- Increase their ability to recognize how tobacco advertising and promotion deceive youth.
- Increase in recognition as to how getting hooked on tobacco destroys youths' freedom and control over their own lives.
- Increase self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-image
Interested in starting a TATU team at your school or having TATU teens present at your elementary or middle school, please call 815-774-7312.
· REALITY Illinois
REALITY Illinois is an anti-tobacco campaign developed by Illinois' teens and funded by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) as part of the Illinois Tobacco-Free Communities Program. The Program's goal is to educate teens on the health effects of tobacco use and secondhand smoke and on how tobacco companies target teens through deceptive advertising and marketing practices. Additionally, REALITY Illinois seeks to directly impact tobacco control policies by working locally on issues such as reducing exposure to secondhand smoke. An advisory panel in each county, made up of local teens, is the driving force behind REALITY Illinois. The teens meet monthly to learn more about the tobacco industry's deceptive advertising tactics, how the industry targets teens and what they can do to fight back. They also brainstorm ideas on how to spread the word in the community about the harmful effects of tobacco.
To start a Reality IL group at a high school in Will County call 815-774-7312.







