Seocho-gu Wins Top Award for 'Youth Smoking Prevention' in Seoul's Smoke-Free City Initiative

District, Seoul City Hosted '2023 Smoke-Free City Seoul Achievement Contest' Awarded in 'Youth Smoking Prevention' Category
Presented Child and Youth Smoking Prevention Education, Harmful Environment Improvement Projects to Prevent Tobacco Access
Youth Participatory Smoking Prevention Education 'Seocho Youth Healthhaeyoung' and Various Smoking Prevention Activities Highly Praised

Seocho-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jeon Seong-su) received the Grand Prize at the '2023 Smoke-Free City Seoul Achievement Competition.'

Organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, this competition was established to select and promote successful cases in each district related to ▲creating smoke-free environments ▲smoking cessation support services ▲youth smoking prevention.

The district won the award by receiving high scores in all evaluation criteria, including the suitability, thoroughness, outcomes, and potential for expansion of its projects in the 'Youth Smoking Prevention' category. This marks the second consecutive year of winning, following last year's Grand Prize in the smoke-free environment category.

At the achievement competition held at Seoul City Hall on the 6th, the district presented on youth smoking prevention programs and improvements to harmful environments to prevent tobacco access under the theme "No to Cigarettes, No to Smoking! Creating a Golden Seocho."

In particular, the 'Seocho Youth Health-Young' program, a youth participatory smoking prevention education initiative first implemented nationwide in 2016, caught the judges' attention.

'Youth Health-Young' is a youth smoking prevention project established by the district to encourage thinking about smoking not only as a health issue but also in connection with various social problems.

This program is practice-oriented and designed for 5th and 6th-grade elementary school students to develop critical thinking about tobacco and smoking-related social issues. It is conducted over six sessions, including ▲mock trial role-playing ▲analyzing tobacco marketing ▲creating cigarette pack warning labels ▲smoking prevention policy contests.

Especially, the 'mock trial role-playing' is the most engaging program for students, where they take on the roles of plaintiffs and defendants in a civil lawsuit against a tobacco company, engage in heated debates, and then have the jury make a judgment.

This year, 288 sessions of education were conducted for about 1,300 students across six elementary schools. The district continues to strive to operate education tailored to youth perspectives through ongoing development of teaching materials and tools.

Additionally, the district received high praise from the judges for presenting other initiatives such as smartphone-based 'community mapping,' where residents and youth share and improve health-hazardous environments on maps; the 'Our Neighborhood Tag Team' resident monitoring group that monitors illegal alcohol and tobacco sales; and smoking prevention campaigns planned and participated in by residents.

Jeon Seong-su, Mayor of Seocho-gu, stated, "We will do our best to create a 'Smoke-Free Seocho' through customized smoking prevention programs for the healthy growth of youth."