Tobacco Prevention
About the Be Smart–Don't Start! Storyboard Contest
Be Smart–Don't Start! is a drawing and writing contest in which students in kindergarten through fifth grade can create an idea for a commercial showing why people should never use tobacco. Contest dates for 2010 are January 18 through March 26. Winners were announced on May 5. Judges selected the following winners in both eastern and central/western Oklahoma:
- Grand prize winner
- K-1st grade winners (1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place)
- 2nd-3rd grade winners (1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place)
- 4th-5th grade winners (1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place)
The two grand-prize winners will win $100 and have their creations animated into 30-second commercials featuring their own artwork and voices. The commercials will be distributed to television stations, posted on multiple Web sites and promoted across the state. First-, second- and third-place winners will receive $75, $50 and $25 respectively. All winners, along with their parents and teachers, will be invited to an awards celebration at the State Capitol. Plus, teachers of the winning students will receive a gift certificate for classroom supplies.
Questions? Call (866) 876-4376, or view our frequently asked questions 
.
View the 2010 winning storyboards.
This contest is brought to you by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma, the American Lung Association 
of the Central States serving Oklahoma, the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the Oklahoma State Department of Health . Special thanks to Lamar Advertising Company and Newspapers in Education for their support.
Blaze, the Braggin' Dragon
I'm Blaze the Braggin' Dragon, and I'm not like other dragons. I don't smoke or use tobacco. I eat right, get plenty of exercise and feel great. Kids, you can, too! Be a braggin' dragon like me. Live healthy, and live longer. It's fun to be a dragon, especially a healthy one. Too bad most dragons aren't healthy. Do you know why? A lot of dragons smoke and eat bad foods. Some dragons also play too many video games instead of playing outside and riding bikes, which makes them too heavy to fly.
Be healthy – don't smoke.
Smoking cigarettes hurts your lungs and can make you and the people around you sick. Cigarettes are expensive, have poisons in them and contain an addictive drug called nicotine. You can be a hero and never start smoking.
Did you know?
- There are more than 4,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke (including: formaldehyde, butane, arsenic, ammonia, acetone, carbon monoxide and cadmium). 200 of these chemicals are poisons, and 43 of the chemicals cause cancer.
- It's hard to stop smoking once you start because of a drug in cigarettes called nicotine. The body gets addicted to, or “hooked” on nicotine.
- Tobacco is a waste of money.
Also, did you know that tobacco causes:
- Shortness of breath
- Yellow teeth
- Stroke
- Asthma
- Smelly hair
- Stinky clothes
- Heart disease
- Wrinkles
- Coughing
- Lung cancer
- Death
- Addiction
- Emphysema
- Bad breath
