According to a survey by the Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital Mahidol University, 43% of primary students in a school in the Central Region had tried e-cigarettes. Additionally, the number of female students who smoked e-cigarettes was higher than males.
In recent years, tobacco companies have launched e-cigarettes with attractive packaging and appealing scents. These features appeal to young people and mislead them to believe that e-cigarettes are not dangerous. In fact, e-cigarettes are harmful to health, especially to the lungs, heart, blood vessels and brain, and also increase the risk of cancer.
To educate parents and young people about the dangers of e-cigarettes, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation has launched an anti-e-cigarette children's book series. There are four books targeting children aged three to six years and three books targeting children aged seven years and older.
Dr Pussayaban Suwannakeeree, a paediatric pulmonologist.
Dr Pussayaban Suwannakeeree and Chairit Srirojrit are two of the seven authors who participated in the project. Dr Pussayaban, a paediatric pulmonologist and founder of facebook.com/drpambookclub, wrote The Anti Toy Pod Squad for children aged three to six. Meanwhile, Chairit, a storyteller and children's book author, wrote Secrets Of The Dark Company for children aged seven and older.
Secrets Of The Dark Company. happyreading.in.th
The Anti Toy Pod Squad By Dr Pussayaban Suwannakeeree
The Anti Toy Pod Squad is a children's book by Dr Pussayaban. As a paediatric pulmonologist, Dr Pussayaban wants to warn children about the dangers of e-cigarettes. In The Anti Toy Pod Squad, a superhero squad receives command from their boss to search for toy pods, a type of e-cigarette that appears in the form of toys. Although toy pods look like toys, there is a tube attached to them. The superhero squad find toy pods in schools and after that, parents and children learn how to differentiate toy pods from regular toys.
"Children in the digital age can easily absorb new information. Thus, a children's book does not have to present only one sentence on a page," Dr Pussayaban explained. "Children at these ages have their own fantasy world. They like stories about ghosts, angels or superheroes. Supernatural or surreal stories can capture their attention. Therefore, I created superhero characters. This implies that every child can be a hero. If they know that e-cigarettes or toy pods are harmful, they should alert others."
When Dr Pussayaban posted about the dangers of toy pods on her page facebook.com/drpambookclub, followers sent her messages saying that they had caught their child smoking a pod. Some of them were primary students. Dr Pussayaban realised that pods are available everywhere and hopes the book series can reach children in remote areas so that they will be aware of the danger of e-cigarettes.
When asked if children are interested in books in the digital age, Dr Pussayaban said she believes children still enjoy reading.
"Whether children enjoy reading/listening to stories or not depends on parents willing to sacrifice time to read to them. Children do not only want to listen to a story, they also want to be with their parents. Part of the enjoyment of reading/listening comes from the quality time that is created from bonding with parents," explained Dr Pussayaban.
"Having children who love reading is not an accident. It is something that needs to be cultivated. Children must see their parents reading books and have an environment with books. The most important thing is reading books with parents brings them happiness. This can create a love for reading."
Secrets Of The Dark Company By Chairit Srirojrit
Chairit revealed that his father is a smoker and suffers from emphysema. Chairit's father started smoking at a time when advertising portrayed smoking as cool. His father, who is frequently in and out of the hospital, said that if he had known that smoking was harmful, he would never have started. That inspired Chairit to work with the Action on Smoking and Health Foundation Thailand and several other anti-smoking campaigns.
Before starting the project, authors were told that in order to gain long-term customers, tobacco companies target primary students. This marketing strategy inspired Chairit to write Secrets Of The Dark Company.
Secrets Of The Dark Company is a story told by a spider which weaves its webs on the ceiling of a tobacco company. The spider overhears an employee complain that the number of smokers has decreased, negatively affecting the company's income. Therefore, they have to revamp cigarettes with new images called pods. Pods come in cute packaging in various forms, such as dolls, milk cartons and robots. They also have various scents such as fruits, flowers, chocolate and vanilla. However, pods feature liquids containing harmful substances which can damage lungs and increase the risk of cancer.
Although Chairit is the author of over 100 children's books and a storyteller for 26 years, he has no expectations for Secrets Of The Dark Company.
"I just do my best as a writer. I understand that there are not many parents who buy books for their children. Teachers do not read stories in their classrooms. Even schools under the Office of the Basic Education Commission do not think about purchasing this book for their library. I cannot expect anything. I just do my best."
Despite being one of the authors in the anti-e-cigarette children's book series, Chairit disagreed when the Thai Health Promotion Foundation revealed that it plans to launch other children's books about other social issues.
"Don't expect a children's book to solve social issues. Stories do not change the world overnight. They can change the world, but it may be a small group and not overnight. Children's books are now used as textbooks. In my opinion, children's books in Thailand lack imagination because we focus on substance, but neglect aesthetics and imagination. We should think about children and let them have some fun stories to read," concluded Chairit.
The book series is available for free at happyreading.in.th.
