A group of young people from Liverpool descended the OFCOM headquarters in London yesterday to show that over 10,000 people across the city support them in their plight to stop TV smoking.
SmokeOff, promoted by D-MYST The Agency, is a campaign which targets OFCOM asking them to follow their own guidelines with regards to smoking on television.
OFCOM guidelines state “Smoking must not be condoned, encouraged or glamourised in programmes likely to be widely seen or heard by under-18s unless there is editorial justification.” Yet many programmes like Coronation Street and Eastenders regularly contain smoking scenes, at times when young people are watching.
On Thursday 4 April, D-MYST representatives aged between 11 and 18 presented OFCOM with over 10,000 postcards all signed by people across Merseyside who have shown support for the SmokeOff campaign.
The campaign hopes to reduce child exposure to smoking and help decrease the number of young people who start smoking.
D-MYST spokesperson Lilly Mae Paulucci, 15 from Garston said: “When programmes like The Simpsons and Friends show people smoking, it encourages young people to start. We believe the media should stop showing tobacco images in TV programmes viewed by under-18s before the watershed.
“We want to make sure that all future pre-watershed programmes are smokefree and we’re really pleased with the support we’ve received so far.”
Studies have shown that a child who smokes one cigarette doubles their chances of becoming a regular smoker by the age of 17.
For help quitting smoking contact your local NHS Stop Smoking Service on 0800 195 2131.