"Quit to Win" Challenge
by Charles Gaudreau
On March 1, 2007, the "Quit to Win" Challenge began. The challenge was a Government of Quebec initiative to encourage all smokers to quit for six weeks. The "Gang Allumée" at the École secondaire
Bon-Pasteur had the brilliant idea of creating a daily routine log for Karen Jean, Claudia Gamache and Karen Poitras, students at the École secondaire Bon-Pasteur and
soon-to-be ex-smokers.
The three girls all shared that they often felt like smoking and that the hardest part was when they were with friends who smoked. Like all the people who took on this challenge, the three participants wanted to save money, to be healthier and to be
more independent. Unfortunately, due largely to the influence of their friends, the three contestants were unable to kick the habit. However, they did decrease their consumption, from a dozen cigarettes a day to only one or two.
If there is something to be learned from this experience, it's that nicotine dependence is very powerful. Even at a young age, it's extremely hard to quit smoking. Nicotine dependence develops very quickly, often after only a few cigarettes. The
contestants, who were between 17 and 18 years old, were unable to stop smoking. They haven't been smoking for that long, so just imagine what it's like for someone who's been smoking for 10 or 15 years! Like our three friends, people think they will be
able to quit smoking whenever they want, but will they really be able to?
As well as encouraging these three young people to quit smoking, the project also affected other students, who realized how much effort it takes to quit smoking. The best way to stop smoking truly is to never start!
On June 4, 2007, Ginette Plante, the school nurse and supervisor of the Gang Allumée committee at the École secondaire Bon-Pasteur, and Charles
Gaudreau, project leader, gave each of the participants a gift bag provided by the Desjardins Chrome program, which teaches young people good financial habits. Once again, congratulations to our participants!
