Educational Media Reviews Online

This short film seeks to alert young people to the dangers of tobacco not by the tired techniques of quoting alarming (and true) statistics about tobacco-related deaths and disease, but by pointing out equally alarming but lesser known facts. These ten facts as noted by the attractive young narrators and further explained by doctors David Whiteson and Shobana Gupta are intriguing, including information on the unprecedented lethality of cigarettes today, new links between smoking and disease, risks of second and third hand smoke especially to young children, and the dubious alternatives of “vaping” and smokeless tobacco. The film features a diverse group of young people as background images and should appeal to all populations, as well as occasional still photos of the manifestations of tobacco related health problems that will likely disturb most viewers. The only minor complaint is the literacy level requirement on the part of the viewer to comprehend some of the terms. There are occasional attempts to make the language more accessible, such as when one narrator refers to a “slew” of chemicals in tobacco. But some terms used, such as “ingest” instead of “swallow” seem unnecessarily arcane, specially considering the target audience. Still, this film should provide a fresh frame for advocacy against smoking and tobacco use among young people. Recommended for adolescent health collections.