Rev Your Bev Day is important to me because my grandmother now deals with many health issues that can be linked to sugary drinks. I am spending time talking about these health concerns because I would like to make Virginia a healthier state and hope that by informing people of the unhealthy effects of sugary drinks, that they will reconsider what they put into their bodies.

Getting ready for my event in Richmond last year was fun and a little nerve-racking. A lot of the adults shared with us that they only drink water to stay healthy, which I thought was awesome. We also got many people who worked in the Office of the First Lady to come down and visit us. It was a very productive morning, and it ended with a visit from the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, Bill Hazel. Then after lunch, we went to a elementary school and met up with the YMCA and Fit4Kids for an event with elementary-schoolers.

A lot of the kids were very surprised by what they learned. One kid told me that he was going to go home and “throw all his soda out the window cause now it’s just gross.” That little kid was only seven or eight, but he really gave me a good feeling because if he thought soda was gross now, then maybe he will stop drinking it and be healthier when he grows up.

Youth activism is important because without youth going out into their community and speaking up for what they believe in, you won’t be able to change the future. It shows that youth care about making sure our communities are healthy.

Sarah Chichester is a Sophomore at Skyline High School in Front Royal, Virginia and an active member of Y Street, a program of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth.

On May 14, 2014, I represented Y Street at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Rocky Mt, Virginia. The students participated in Rev Your Bev Day during their lunch period.

Overall, the kids had a very positive attitude. I remember a young girl at the event who was so shocked by the sugar cube display and how many sugar cubes were hiding in the beverages she loved. From the knowledge she gained at Rev Your Bev Day, she decided to drink fewer sugary drinks. This showed me that through Rev Your Bev, we are effectively sharing information about the harm of sugary beverages.

Rev Your Bev Day is so important to me because since I quit drinking sugary beverages, I feel so much better. From my own experience, I have noticed that caffeine and sugar had negative effects on my health.

I was initially interested in hosting a Rev Your Bev Day event because I am passionate about sharing knowledge to help influence Virginians to live a healthier lifestyle. I hope that through Rev Your Bev, I can share my own experience, as well as information to help change the way Virginians think about sugar beverages for the better.

Maggie Toms is a senior at Carlisle High School in Martinsville, Virginia and an active member of Y Street, a program of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth.

My name is Natalie M., I am a sophomore at James Madison High School in Vienna, Virginia, and I have been a member of Y Street – Virginia’s biggest youth-led movement – for almost 2 years. During that time, I have collected public opinion surveys and support cards for the (dis)tasteful campaign with the goal of creating a world without flavored tobacco. I strongly believe in this campaign because I see the effect that flavored tobacco has on the people around me. I am hoping to raise awareness through this campaign in my community, especially with teens my age because they are the future of my community, but also they are the most likely to be influenced by these dangerous tobacco products.

I participated in the Reduce Tobacco Use Conference, a nationwide conference focused on tobacco use prevention, hosted in Washington, DC by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth on April 10. This year, Y Street presented the results of our (dis)tasteful survey for the first time nationwide. The report discusses how appealing people think these tobacco products are, the knowledge people have of flavored tobacco products, and the usage of flavored tobacco among Virginia residents. Y Street members collected more than 6,000 surveys from 142 cities all over Virginia.

Our findings were very interesting. And overwhelming majority of Virginians (86 percent) think flavored tobacco products are more appealing to youth that non-flavored tobacco products. Almost 7 out of 10 respondents (69 percent) support extending the current federal ban on flavored cigarettes to all tobacco products.

The (dis)tasteful Survey Report also contains important information about youth and flavored tobacco. Youth (respondents under the age of 18) overwhelmingly reported they were more likely to try flavored tobacco products than non-flavored tobacco products. Even youth who never even tried tobacco products reported being more likely to try a flavored tobacco product than a non-flavored product, which shows how appealing flavored tobacco is. When asked to compare flavored tobacco to non-flavored tobacco, 24% of current youth tobacco users and 25% of adult tobacco users responded that flavored tobacco is probably or definitely safer than regular tobacco. Also, 22% of youth tobacco users and adult tobacco users think that cigars and cigarillos are less harmful than cigarettes, and 42% of youth tobacco users think that hookah is less harmful than cigarettes.

All these results show how oblivious people are of the harm caused by flavored tobacco. Many people were shocked at the results of the survey. They did not realize just how appealing the wrapping and flavors of these tobacco products can be. They also didn’t realize how much these things could affect people’s choices. Many people were very excited to be able to ask me how we can help make more teens aware of the harms of flavored tobacco.

After the presentation, I helped my fellow Y Street members to raise support for (dis)tasteful and a world without flavored tobacco by asking conference attendees to fill out support cards for the campaign. I enjoyed collecting support cards and talking to people about the campaign because most people there were so interested to hear from a teenager about this important initiative. Additionally, I had the honor of meeting some very influential people, including the Surgeon General of the United States, Boris Lushniak, and FDA Center for Tobacco Products Director, Mitch Zeller. Getting the opportunity to meet Dr. Lushniak and Director Zeller was amazing. I shared my story and experiences working on the (dis)tasteful campaign with both of these individuals. They both showed great support and interest for the cause. As a youth activist this was really important for me to see.

Youth activism is very important to me because no one will understand the mind of a kid better than another kid. They motivate and inspire each other to do better or to do worse. Raising awareness is very important to me because I want to motivate my peers to do better. I want to see a healthier future for people and I want my peers to help my community create that. Also, showing adults that teens care about their health and causes like tobacco prevention makes adults want to invest in helping end this problem.

I will continue raising awareness about flavored tobacco through the (dis)tasteful campaign. I will keep using what I know about this important issue to communicate to my community why they should support a ban on flavored tobacco product

Natalie is a sophomore at James Madison High School in Vienna, Virginia and an active member of Y Street, a program of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth.

Chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, and blueberry – these words probably bring up a memory of the time when we would dress up in our scariest outfit and go door to door for Halloween in hopes of receiving a sweet treat. Even though sweet memories of stuffing your face with candy may come to mind, these flavors are also used in tobacco products. Tobacco companies are marketing and promoting smokeless tobacco products and smaller cigars, which look, taste, and are packaged like candy. Big tobacco is focusing their efforts on enticing youth in order to lock in their future “replacement smokers.” As youth activists, we must take notice of this problem and make a move for change.

(dis)tasteful is a campaign led by Y Street, Virginia’s largest youth-led activism movement. The campaign is letting Virginians know that tobacco in any flavor is addictive and toxic. Working together, we hope our movement will spread the word about why flavored non-cigarette tobacco products are dangerous, and build support for a world without flavored tobacco!

This summer, myself and a group of Y Street activists had the awesome opportunity to film an awareness video for the (dis)tasteful campaign. The experience was really great! First, we had a wonderful makeup artist make us beautiful for the camera. Next, we spent a ton of time rehearsing our lines together. We also got to spend some time getting to know each other – it was really fun to get to know other Y-Sters from all over the state.

When it was my turn to get in front of the camera, I was ready – or at least I thought I was! I guess I was a bit camera shy and it was kind of hard to read the cue cards without my glasses. But I finally managed to get through all my lines and have a great time! I got to meet new people, eat great food and experience something I’ve never done before and all in the name of tobacco prevention – a goal I am passionate about that made this experience great.

Angie is a student at Stafford High School and an active member of Y Street, a program of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth

On Thursday, April 11th, I rode up to Richmond on a train with a really cool Y-Ster named Katelyn. It was just like being in Harry Potter! We were heading to the 2013 Weight of the State conference where Katelyn and I, along with another Y-Ster named Lewis, were doing a presentation about Y Street and our ActOut campaign. With the help of some delicious Comida Mexicana for dinner, we rehearsed late into the night, making sure we knew the facts and could speak confidently about each of our sections of the presentation that we would give in front of 400 people.

The next morning, after a healthy breakfast, Miss Virginia opened for us and shared her story about importance of physical activity. Then we were up. All that good food we’d been eating was struggling to stay down in my stomach, but thankfully we all made it through our parts pretty flawlessly. In fact, the health professionals at the conference loved us! We were referred to on multiple occasions as “superhero rock stars,” and more importantly, we got a lot of positive support for Y Street’s Rev Your Bev Day initiative. So many people from around the state wanted to participate in Rev Your Bev Day, and find out more about Y Street and all the fun and important work we do to promote healthy lifestyles.

It was a great experience overall—not only to get the chance to present about Y Street and ActOut to these various health professionals, but also to meet and network with them. And the food–did I mention the food was good? I also really enjoyed the opportunity I had to meet and get to know Katelyn and Lewis, two Y-Sters I probably would have not met otherwise. Click here to check out pictures of all our fun!