The Tobacco Free Community (TFC) at Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) communicated the danger of tobacco and vapes through an event. The event itself was entitled ‘TFC Goes to School,’ initiated by a community in the Health Science Faculty at Udinus. It took place on Thursday, March 13, 2025.
Hosted at SMPN 40 Semarang (the 40th Public Junior High School of Semarang), the event was attended by dozens of students. It employed the theme of ‘Tobacco-Free Generation: A Bright Future Begins Today.’ The event aimed to raise awareness among teenagers not to get in contact with tobacco or vaping. The event was done so students could keep living healthily and productively, as stated by Adinda Putri Muktiasar, the head organizer.
“At TFC Goes To School, we communicated everything about cigarettes, including their kinds, like conventional tobacco and electric cigarette (vape), the dangers lying within them, and prevention steps to not get contacted by their influences,” she uttered.
Furthermore, Adinda explained that teenagers were the main targets for the tobacco industry, as they could potentially be long-term customers. This is because teenagers are relatively easy to be influenced by cigarette advertisements and societal pressure, as well as the lack of awareness about health risks.
“The tobacco industry mainly employs a pretty interesting marketing strategy, including maintaining a cool and rebellious image to attract attention. For that reason, it is important for teenagers or young people to distance themselves from tobacco influence,” she uttered.
For young people to avoid the influence of this marketing strategy, TFC Goes To School emphasized the importance of raising awareness concerning the danger of smoking, particularly by building self-confidence to distract themselves from being influenced.
“To avoid the danger of smoking, young people can start by involving themselves in various positive activities, as well as getting support from family and school. With these preventive steps, young people can maintain their health and secure a brighter future,” she added.
Support from School
As a preventive step to avoid tobacco influence, the school also needs to play an important role, involving students and faculty members. On a different occasion, the principal of SMPN 40 Semarang, Bani Haris, S.Ag., M.Si., mentioned that teachers played the role of educators, inspirators, and enforcers.
“Meanwhile, students serve as the agents of change, spreading awareness and avoiding tobacco. With excellent dynamics between students, teachers, and the school environment, we will be able to form a healthier and safer school environment without any influence of tobacco,” he continued.
The principal also revealed that the socialization hosted by The Tobacco Free Community from the Health Science Faculty at Udinus was helpful in promoting a healthy lifestyle without tobacco. He hoped for this event to push students to raise awareness about the danger of smoking.
“We hope that students can be more concerned about their own and others’ health, as well as serve as a good example for students of other schools,” he concluded. (Humas Udinus/Ika. Foto: Dok. TFC Udinus)
