Lake County Teens Gather to Promote Tobacco-free Parks

Teems from REALITY Illinois - Lake County, a chapter of the statewide teen tobacco prevention program, are on a mission to promote tobacco-free parks. This year, REALITY Illinois is working with the Gurnee Park District to explore a tobacco-free parks policy. On April 19 at 7 p.m., the group members will present the information, evidence and statistics they have collected over the past year to the Gurnee Park District Board of Commissioners, hoping to encourage change. Last year, the teens successfully presented their findings to the Round Lake Area Park District, which resulted in a new tobacco-free parks policy for the Round Lake Area.

The Lake County Chapter of REALITY Illinois is comprised of 26 active members representing nine Lake County high schools. The group is sponsored by the Tobacco Free Lake County Program of the Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center. Meeting the first Tuesday of every month, the group discusses the harmful effects of outdoor tobacco use and the impact it has on the community. Teens participate in events such as picking up tobacco-related litter at parks, and collecting surveys from residents. They also created an ad for broadcast on a local radio station.

The REALITY Illinois teens are motivated to reach out and dedicate their time and efforts to assist local communities in keeping with their mission statement "to promote healthy lifestyles, to reduce secondhand smoke, to improve the health of our environment and communities, and support a policy that makes all parks tobacco-free."

REALITY member Maria Yakovleva said, "It's rare to find teens all working together and actually making changes in the world. REALITY teens do exactly that."

For more information on REALITY Illinois, please contact Tobacco Free Lake County at (847) 377-8090 and TFLC@lakecountyil.gov or you can visit: http://lakecountyil.gov/Health/TFLCTeens.htm. REALITY Illinois is funded by the Illinois Department of Public Health.