TAT Kids want to Kick Butts
TAT Kids want to Kick Butts
By Jerry W. Kram
Tobacco has long held a sacred place in the culture of Native Americans. However, the commercialization of this sacred plant has created an industry that thrives on addiction and abuse of its products. The Three Affiliated Tribes Boys and Girls Club brought nearly 100 students from every segment of the Fort Berthold Reservation to New Town last week to fight the negative impacts of commercial tobacco in their communities, schools and homes.
Kick Butts Day was an opportunity for the Boys and Girls Club’s Teens Against Commercial Tobacco initiative to provide training and education that club members can take back to their communities and share, said club spokesperson Coby Rabbithead. The meeting, held at the Northern Lights Building, was called the Youth Tobacco Leadership Summit. TACT members are youth advocates for prevention efforts across Fort Berthold..
“The teens came up with action plans that they will take back to their schools,” Rabbithead said. “They will provide leadership and show how the youth can take initiative to prevent some of the stuff that is going on in our communities. The National Kick Butts Day is a campaign for tobacco free kids where they can stand up and tell others it is wrong to have commercial tobacco. They want to take a leadership role in taking back their communities and their health.”
