Students 'Kick Butts'
<p>Mirena Sharpe, 16, prepares for the "Kick Butts" event Wednesday in Hayden as she places signs in front of five body bags with statistics highlighting the amount of deaths caused by smoking related illnesses.</p>
<p>Kelsey Dill, 19, reacts to feeling a tumor in a pig lung that had been subjected to a smoke filled environment as her friends Lisa Pesin, 18, left, and Tylor Jones, 19, watch.</p>
HAYDEN - Colorful balloons and body bags stood in stark contrast Wednesday as area teens participated in Kick Butts Day, a national anti-tobacco campaign in its 15th year.
They wore black shirts and offered free hot dogs, music and plenty of sobering statistics from a parking lot along Highway 95 in Hayden.
"I want to help make this a healthier country," said Mirena Sharpe, 16. "I don't want my generation to be an unhealthy one."
The Post Falls teen pointed to the display of zippered-up corpses, a representation of the daily deaths in the U.S. that occur due to tobacco, alcohol and drug use.
"From tobacco use, 1,200 people will die, just today," said Sharpe, a student of the Idaho Distance Education Academy. "I know a lot of people who've smoked, and I've seen the effects. I've had grandparents who died from lung cancer, so I want to raise awareness."
Sharpe was joined by other teens from Idaho Distance Education Academy as well as kids from other local schools who are members of Idaho Drug Free Youth.
Sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Kick Butts Day is an annual celebration of youth leadership and activism in the fight against tobacco use.
The Hayden awareness event is one of more than 1,000 that took place Wednesday throughout the nation.
"I never realized how many people die from second-hand smoke; 150 people will die today from second hand smoke," Sharpe said. "It's even dangerous not only for the people who smoke but if they have kids, or brothers and sisters, it's dangerous for them as well."
There was a healthy set of pink pig lungs on display, along with a blackened pair of the same, complete with tiny developing tumors.
Posters urged others to join the teens in their stand against nicotine dependency, and offered a chance to sign up and commit to a smoke-free lifestyle.
"We're here because we want to teach kids and teens about the dangers of smoking," said Alicia Lockwood, 16, also an IDEA student. "For me, it's something that I don't want to do to myself and I want to show younger kids that it's cool to stay drug free and not smoke and not drink."