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  4. ACTIVITY 7: SAYING “NO” TO TOBACCO

Grades 5 & 6

How Friends Fit In

In this section, students explore their relationships with others. The activities focus on peer relationships and how peer pressure, influence, and acceptance affect their lives. There are also activities on refusal skills to help equip students with strategies for saying "no."

Activity 7: Saying “No” To Tobacco

  • Skills: Refusal skills
  • Suggested Time Consideration: 20 minutes

  • Rationale

    To provide students with tips for resisting peer pressure, this activity includes suggestions on how to say “no” to friends. It complements the “How to Say ‘No'” poster and demonstrates concrete examples of what adolescents might say if pressured to use tobacco.

  • Getting Started

    Display the “How to Say ‘No'” poster (included in the “Materials” section). Review the tips with your students. Then, share the digital activity link below.

    Launch Activity

    Read the introduction and directions together. Note that students will see the “How to Say ‘No'” poster onscreen and can click to enlarge it in a separate window. Ask students to keep the window open so they can refer back to the poster. Then, ask students to complete the activity independently.

    While students are completing the activity, list the “Ways to Say ‘No'” on the board or chart paper.

  • Talking About It

    Once everyone has completed the activity, bring students together for a class discussion to review the different strategies for saying “no” to negative peer pressure. Ask students:

    • Which strategies listed on the activity do you think would be easy to use if you were pressured to use tobacco? (Tally the students’ responses next to the examples.)
    • Are there ideas that you would be more comfortable using than others? (Again, mark the answers next to your list on the board or chart paper.)
    • How else could you say “no” to friends who might pressure you to smoke or use tobacco? What would you actually say in this situation?
    • Are some ways to say “no” better for certain situations than others? For example, if a friend asked you to lie on his behalf, would you use the same method of saying “no” as you would if a friend asked you to use tobacco?

  • Wrapping Up

    Encourage students to keep this list someplace where they can refer to it periodically if they need tips for saying “no.”

  • Materials

“How To Say No” Set of Two posters

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