Community College Students Launch Anti-Smoking, ’Good Behavior’ Campaign

Students at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, N.Y., will launch a comprehensive “good behavior” campaign in the fall to discourage smoking in prohibited areas, littering, and other bad habits on campus, USA Today reported May 24.

The “Create Change” program aims to encourage citizenship on campus through positive peer pressure rather than disciplinary action. The initiative was inspired by a New York State grant the college received in 2005 for a tobacco-cessation initiative, which saw smoking violations reduced from 263 in 2008 to 196 in 2009. The new campaign is more comprehensive, targeting everything from parking violations to spitting and swearing.

Incentives include “undercover” student operatives who will distribute “reward cards” for credit at the campus coffee shop to peers promoting good behavior.

“There’s not really a behavior problem on our campus,” said Terry Griffin, head of the committee behind the campaign. “But, part of what we’re trying to do here is develop these young people into good citizens of the community.”