Young people from San Saba High School and the PALs Group are joining thousands of kids across the country who are taking part in Kick Butts Day, a nationwide initiative that makes kids leaders in the effort to stop youth tobacco use. As part of the Kick Butts Day celebration, PALS students are putting on various programs within the school district.

Throughout the year, young advocates take part in a variety of activities to protect kids from tobacco, including working with elected officials to develop policies that reduce youth tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke and educating their peers about tobacco companies’ deceptive marketing practices.

"Smoking is horrible for those who have made it a habit and also for those around the ones that have chosen to fill their lungs with tar" - Connor Arrington, a member of the PALs Group of San Saba High School.

The activities that will take place on March 23 at SSISD include a series of events that will notify our campus and students about the importance of stopping youth tobacco use. PALs group hopes that this service project will help to alert and stop tobacco use in the youth of our county and surrounding ones.

On March 23rd, elementary, middle and high school students across the country are organizing Kick Butts Day events to fight youth tobacco use. Young people will participate in a variety of Kick Butts Day activities such as; marching to state capitals and holding rallies, meeting with elected officials, and holding flash mobs in busy community spaces. In 2010, thousands of kids carried out 1,000 events. We expect this number to increase in 2011.

"Kids are a powerful part of the solution to reducing youth tobacco use," said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which coordinates Kick Butts Day. "For Kick Butts Day 2011, kids are sending two important messages: they want the tobacco industry to stop targeting them with advertising and they want elected leaders at all levels to do more to protect them from tobacco."

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, killing more than 400,000 people every year. Every day, more than 4,000 kids try their first cigarettes; another 1,000 kids become addicted smokers, one-third of whom will die prematurely as a result.

The Washington, DC-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is one of the largest non-governmental education and advocacy initiatives ever undertaken to decrease youth tobacco use in the United States. Tobacco-Free Kids strives to build a healthier future for our children by reducing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke.

For more information about the Kick Butts Day event at San Saba High School, contact Mrs. Thomas (Leader of the PALs Group) at 1-325-372-3850. For information on the national initiative, visit the Kick Butts Day website at kickbuttsday.org.