Smokers unwelcome at parks while young lungs are at play

Like many parents in Centre County, I love to take my child to the park to play. In Centre County, we are blessed with an amazing park system where kids and families have many wonderful places to spend time.

As a member of the Centre County Tobacco Coalition, I recently learned about a new program called Young Lungs at Play. Soon after I learned about this new initiative, I started to see signage at our local parks stating, “Young lungs at play! This is a tobacco free zone.”

In researching this program, I have found that this new initiative has many benefits to kids and families. First, cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world. They are toxic and a choking hazard to young kids. They are washed into our streams and rivers and the toxic pollutants do not decompose easily. Additionally, they are an environmental eyesore and expensive to clean up.

Another benefit of this program is that children will be less exposed to secondhand smoke.

Exposure to secondhand smoke has been estimated to result in at least 38,000 deaths in the U.S. annually and is a huge contributor to illnesses in children. Secondhand smoke contains more than 250 toxic chemicals that have been proven to cause cancer and many other serious illnesses such as asthma, respiratory infections and cardiovascular disease in children.

There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure. Even if you are outside, brief exposure can be harmful.

Finally, children learn behavior by watching others. We teach our kids to walk, talk and play sports. Our kids learn from us. It is our job to be good role models to the young people around us.

Every year in Pennsylvania, almost 16,100 children younger than 18 will become new daily smokers. When kids see adults smoking in family-friendly places such as parks and playgrounds, they see the behavior as acceptable. We need to be positive role models to the young people in our community and that includes watching our actions and behaviors when we are with them.

If you are at a park and there is “Young lungs at play” signage, please do not smoke in these areas. Many townships that have adopted this policy at their parks also have adopted an enforcement policy that may include being asked to leave the park or being cited for not following a city ordinance.

In Centre County, municipalities, school districts, youth sports organizations and other groups have adopted the “Young lungs at play” tobacco-free-zone program. This initiative protects the environment and protects the health of all who use our parks system. Parks are about clean air, natural beauty, and engaging in healthy activities. Smoking just doesn’t fit in.

Alison Turley is the prevention services coordinator for the Centre County Youth Service Bureau and a member of the Centre County Tobacco Coalition. This weekly column is a collaboration of Centre County Communities That Care serving Bald Eagle, Bellefonte, Penns Valley, and Philipsburg-Osceola Area School Districts, and Care Partnership: Centre Region Communities That Care serving the State College Area School District.