Anti-Smoking Student Art Captures the Impact of Tobacco Use
Arizona students submitted an artistic depiction of the impact of tobacco use in their communities as part of Arizona’s anti-smoking youth coalition Students Taking a New Direction, also known as STAND.
The 2014 gallery is featured on the STAND website at STAND. This year’s top picks are also being featured at azcentral.com for readers to choose their favorite.
The 2014 Art of Resistance top pick was by Joseline Valenzuela, a North High School student whose piece is titled “Make the Right Choice.”
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She will receive $200 in art supplies and her piece will be the inspiration for a mural at a later time this year by muralist Hugo Medina. Her winning work will also be the new cover photo on the STAND Facebook page.
STAND is an active group of youth committed to raising awareness about tobacco addiction and delivering prevention and education.
Everyday 2,100 youth and young adults who smoke occasionally graduate to be daily smokers. Thirty percent of teen smokers will die early from a smoking-related disease.
Tobacco is still the number one cause of preventable disease, disability and death in the United States, with smokers having a death rate three times higher than those who never smoked.
