Depok, August 25th 2023. According to the report of the Indonesian Ministry of Health at the 2023 World No-Tobacco Day (HTT) press conference, the number of smokers in Indonesia increased during 2013 to 2019, especially at the age of children and adolescents, which was more than 2%. Other data from the 2022 National Socioeconomic Survey (SUSENAS) of the Central Statistical Agency (BPS) showed that West Java is in 12th place, as one of the provinces with the highest percentage of smokers aged over/equal to 15 years, namely 32, 07%. Meanwhile, according to Depok BPS data for 2023, the percentage of smokers aged over 15 years is 15.70% in 2022.
On the basis of concern for this problem, the Faculty of Nursing (FIK) Universitas Indonesia (UI) initiated a community service activity (pengmas) regarding the Cool Without Smoking Program (KTR) FIK UI which was held at SMPN 1 Depok on August 3rd 2023. This community service program aimed to improve the health status and productivity of adolescent children by forming self-commitment in refusing smoking behavior.
Head of the FIK UI community service team, Dr. Nur Agustini, S.Kp., M.Si., said that this issue is important to discuss considering the large negative impact of smoking on health. This community service activity was attended by 33 grade 8 students and 11 class teacher delegates. The KTR program is an educational activity about the dangers of smoking which is packaged in several interesting and innovative activity sessions for teenagers. The education begins with expressing the participants’ feelings in responding to smokers around teenagers, whether at home, school and other public environments.
After expressing their feelings, the participants would listen to a presentation about “Cigarettes and Youth” by a resource person from the FIK UI Child Nursing Department, Dr. Nani Nurhaeni, M.N. She explained the dangers of smoking and tips for quitting smoking.
“When we want to quit smoking, make sure to stop completely, not gradually. After that, give positive suggestions that smoking is not a symbol of manliness or being cool, always remember the dangers of smoking and keep yourself busy with useful activities. If you feel “bitter”, replace cigarettes with candy and be diligent in consuming vitamin C drinks. Most importantly, be patient in going through difficult times without being able to smoke,” she said.
The community service team consisted of eight FIK UI academics. Apart from Dr. Nur Agustini and Dr. Nani, other team members were, Siti Chodidjah, S.Kp., M.N., Ph.D .; Ns. Happy Hayati, M.Kep., Sp.Kep.A .; Ns. Olivia Bawaeda, M.Kep .; Ns. Lina Budiyarti., M.Kep.; as well as two undergraduate students from batch 2021, namely Devita Uli Karen and Faudya Annisa Rahma.
After the education session with a presentation on “Cigarettes and Youth”, the next activity was discussion and sharing sessions in small groups guided by the service team as facilitators. In this session, students were guided in discussions and sharing experiences, opinions and expressing a commitment to be ready to become Cool Youth Without Smoking (KTR). The output of the discussion and sharing session activities was storytelling as a result of group discussions which were then presented at the end of the activity.
The school ,represented by Drs. Hudaya, M.Pd., as the Principal of the school, was very enthusiastic and positively welcomed the community service activity “Cool Youth Without Smoking Program”. According to him, teenagers tend to have a great curiosity. Therefore, early education regarding the content of cigarettes as well as the dangers and effects of smoking on the body, is expected to be of benefit to SMPN 1 Depok students and to reduce the number of adolescent smokers.
One of the SMPN 1 Depok students, Kanza Febriani, expressed his gratitude for this community service activity. “We are very grateful for the education provided. We get to know more deeply how scary the dangers of smoking are. Not only that, we are also provided with tips and tricks on how to stop smoking. The hope is that we can apply them and live a healthier life,” he said.
