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Schools

Schools to Receive Funds For Smoking Prevention Education

Los Angeles County schools will receive state funds to raise awareness of the dangers of tobacco use.

The Los Angeles County Office of Education will receive $40,500 in state funds to enforce tobacco-free school policies and collect data on the prevalence of tobacco use and other behaviors that put students' health at risk, state officials announced today.

More than $410,000 in Tobacco Use Prevention Education dollars from the California Department of Education went to 30 districts across the state.

The winners in TUPE competitive bidding demonstrated the greatest tobacco-use prevention efforts, and proposed programs that will likely be effective, said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.

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“Schools can help our kids learn to avoid dangerous behaviors -- including tobacco use -- early,'' Torlakson said.

TUPE is a three-year, $16.5 million competitive state grant program to teach youth in grades six through 12 about how to prevent and reduce the use of tobacco. Torlakson cited a Centers for Disease Control report that tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of disease, disability and death.

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According to the 2009-2010 California Healthy Kids Survey, 67 percent of students admitted to tobacco use. The high school has been a part of anti-smoking campaigns to raise awareness about the harmful side effects of smoking, including the Glendora Youth Against Smoking campaign, a Los Angeles Department of Public Health initiated program.

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