Educational Media Reviews Online

This ambitiously titled program might not cover everything someone might want to know about tobacco, but it does provide a pretty compete introduction to the major issues surrounding tobacco use. Aimed at a young adult audience, it starts out explaining the chemistry of tobacco—what’s in that cigarette in addition to the tobacco leaf? It turns out there’s more than 4700 added chemicals many of which are cancer causing and toxic.

This is a natural lead in to the health effects of tobacco use. Practically every organ in the body is affected by the inhalation of tobacco smoke or the chewing of smokeless tobacco. Testimonials from two young men who have lost body parts due to both smoking and smokeless tobacco bring home the “if it happened to me it can happen to you” message. Some of the images of the physical devastation these two men endured are not for the squeamish. The next important message in the video is how tobacco affects the brain including a brief explanation of the brain’s reward center and how teens are especially at risk for fast response and addiction to tobacco. Program content also touches on the financial side of tobacco use both for the tobacco companies and the users. The video ends on an upbeat note, however, by explaining the benefits of quitting and how the body reverses much of the physical damage.

Human Relations Media is known for its collection of well made, concise programs for the young adult education market. This one is no exception, fitting in nicely with their cadre of health and substance abuse topics. The host is vibrant and attractive, there are expert opinions and testimonies and it is all wrapped up in a fast moving, graphically pleasing package—all of which appeal to the target audience. The accompanying Teacher’s Resource Book provides a wealth of strategies for using the video in the classroom, perfectly complementing the 22 minute video introduction. Recommended for secondary school media center collections and college level collections supporting health sciences training and education programs.