#PassOnIt: Winner of Our Summer Blog Contest

Congratulations to Mirabelle, a 10th Grader at a private South Bay high school, for winning our summer Pass On It blog contest. Mirabelle will receive a check for $50 from South Bay Families Connected. We love the research Mirabelle did in writing this blog, as well as the personal insight she shared in her top five reasons to say "I'll pass" to tobacco and vaping. Her winning blog is below:

My top five reasons for being able to say no to tobacco and vaping is that it can effect my appearance, make me less athletic, is bad for my lungs and brain, can be very addictive, and the mood swings and anxiety that can come along with it. Overtime, tobacco can worsen your skin tone because it deprives your skin of nutrients, can make it sag, and can make your hair thin or even fall out. “Both men and women tend to develop thinner hair as they age, and smoking can accelerate this process. Some studies even suggest people who smoke are more likely to go bald”( www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/ss/slideshow-ways-smoking-affects-looks). Smoking is also very bad for your lungs which can make you run out of breath more easily. This would be very bad for me since I am a runner and on a volleyball team. Another reason I can say no to smoking is that I don’t want to get addicted to it. Drugabuse.gov says that, “Most smokers identify tobacco use as harmful and express a desire to reduce or stop using it, and nearly 35 million want to quit each year.” I would hate feeling like I am being controlled by a substance and that I could only be happy when I take another hit. My last reason for being able to say no to tobacco and vaping is that it can cause severe mood swings and anxiety among young people.

Mirabelle