Reality Check youth to present anti-smoking in movies initiative | Events

Reality Check youth and 300 youth and adults will come together at the Regal Cinemas Clifton Park Stadium 10 and RPX this Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. for “The Smoke-Free Movies Initiative International Week of Action.”

Youth from Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties will promote the initiative with a free family movie and they will educate the public on tobacco product placement in movies and what effect that has on today’s youth.

“The influence of tobacco-related movie images on youth smoking is a major, perhaps the major stimulus for adolescent smoking.  Most important, there is a ‘dose-response:’ the more smoking Hollywood shows kids on screen, the more likely they are to start smoking,” said Stanton Glantz PhD of the University of California in a statement.

Reality Check is a youth-led anti-tobacco control movement which was developed by the New York State Department of Health Tobacco Control Program in 2000. According to a statement, the program educates youth to advocate against the tobacco industry’s marketing practices.

In the North Country, Reality Check is a program of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saratoga County. The event is now sold out.