YOUNGSTERS are tackling their school's record of having the worst rate of youth smoking in Glasgow.

Springburn Academy has 3% more of its pupils smoking than any other school in the city, according to a survey by NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde.

Now a group of fourth year pupils has started a campaign to create a no smoking policy in and around the school.

The teenagers are also hoping to set up a stop smoking service for pupils to help them stop the habit.

Demi Malloy, 15, said: "We want to help young people stop smoking.

"It is important to get the message across about smoking so that people who move up school do not smoke at a young age. It is so people live longer and healthier.

"We also want to show we are not setting a bad example."

In 2010, the city's health board carried out a Glasgow Schools Health and Wellbeing Survey, which asked first to fourth year pupils across all mainstream schools about their health and lifestyle.

A report was issued for each school and Springburn Academy had 3% more pupils smoking and 3% more pupils being exposed to tobacco than any other city school.

The report also highlighted the majority of smokers do so with their friends, with many lighting up on school grounds and buying cigarettes from local shops.

Last year, a group of nine S4 pupils became involved in a Health Summit Project, allowing them to choose an issue affecting young people in their area, to look at new ways to share information and improve services within their school setting.

The group decided to choose Smoking Cessation as its topic and has worked with teachers, the NHS North East Health Improvement Team, young person's group Urban Fox, the council's Technician Support Service and Glasgow Life to get the message across.

Since undertaking this, the pupils have decided to launch a Zero Tolerance campaign, which has led them to draft a school policy they will present to the Academy's senior management.

It includes a no smoking policy for 200 metres around the school grounds for staff and pupils.

Group member Connor Lush, 15, said: "It is not just pupils who smoke on school grounds and are a bad influence."

He said his mother, who was a smoker, had also stopped since his involvement with the group.

The teenager added: "We can't just say to pupils to stop smoking, we also need to say it to the staff and adults."

The youngsters have made and starred in an anti-smoking DVD for the school website. It shows the dangers of smoking and also covers issues such as peer pressure, financial constraints and appearance.

They are also working their way through a Silver Youth Achievement Award, which recognises ways pupils develop and contribute to sections of the Curriculum For Excellence.

They are following in the footsteps of the Evening Times and its successful Clear The Air Campaign.

Working in partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow And Clyde, the campaign helped thousands of people access cessation services as they tried to give up smoking.

Karen Gray, a senior member of the NHS Health Improvement Team, has been working with the pupils throughout the project. She said: "It is fantastic. We now have pupils determining or trying to influence their school policy.

"They are putting in place what they think should be the school rules on the subject and the school's senior management team has already supported it, so these pupils are leading and responsible for the no smoking policy for this school.

"They were given the support, information and resources and it was up to them what they have done with that. They have done extremely well."

The group also recently had a development day at leisure hub, Xscape, to discuss the different ways to take proposals forward.

These include extending the DVD to make an educational film for primary pupils to show at Springburn Academy feeder schools.

In the longer term, the group also wants to set up a referral pathway and anti-smoking service for fellow pupils in the school who want to quit.

Maxine O'Neil, 15, said: "We make sure people know our names – a lot people know what we are doing already – so they know who they can go to if they need help, because a lot of people would not go to teachers.

"In our group, we are all close pals and none of us smoke, but there are a lot of people in our year that do. Some of them don't want to listen, but most do and are thinking about stopping."

Alison Kelly, the school's faculty head of health and wellbeing, has been working with pupils on the project.

She said: "Some of the group were appalled at school's smoking figures and the video they have made held a really powerful message about the problems with smoking and lack of exercise their peers were having.

"They have thought about what they wanted to do to make an impact on all those in and around the school."

fiona.mckay@eveningtimes.co.uk

Some pupils do not want to listen, but most do and are thinking about quitting