Four students from Brentwood and Hempstead participated in the All-Around New York Youth Summit at SUNY Oswego, joining more than 100 teens on July 15 to address ongoing tobacco marketing aimed at youth. The summit, designed to inform and empower young people, focused on combating manipulative tactics used by the tobacco industry that continue to attract young users despite recent declines in vaping rates.
The Long Island students are part of Reality Check, a youth-led initiative within the Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island. Supported by adults and funded through the state’s Department of Health, Reality Check works to expose deceptive marketing practices targeting youth. The participants included Bryana Chavez and Stefany Diaz from Brentwood Freshman Campus, as well as Genesis Mejia and Bryanna Platero from Hempstead High School.
Bryanna Platero, a 10th-grade student at Hempstead High School, said, "Programs like Reality Check are important for youth because they help them understand how major tobacco companies try to appeal to them, while also giving them the tools to address those tactics."
According to the 2024 New York Youth Tobacco Survey, e-cigarettes remain the most used tobacco product among high school students in New York. Efforts by the New York State Tobacco Control Program reduced youth use from 18.7% in 2022 to 13.1% in 2024; however, more than one in ten high school students still use e-cigarettes, and nicotine pouch use has doubled during this period.
During the three-day event, attendees participated in workshops on leadership and communication skills while planning activities aimed at raising awareness about how low-cost products with sweet flavors normalize tobacco use among young people. Platero said, "I learned a variety of things at Youth Summit that I was able to bring back to help educate my community. For example, I learned how to hold a tabling event, as well as how to become a better public speaker—skills that are valuable in helping our communities understand the real impact of the tobacco industry."
The Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island is one of 21 Advancing Tobacco-Free Communities grants funded by the Bureau of Tobacco Control within New York State's Department of Health and administered by the American Lung Association. The grant supports both community engagement efforts and youth action initiatives like Reality Check that aim for environments supporting a tobacco-free norm while empowering local leaders, according to the American Lung Association. Its work includes research contributing toward lung disease prevention and treatment advancements nationwide through local offices; it has received recognition for fiscal management from Charity Navigator.
