Smoking Hurts Your Looks, It's as Simple as That
by Catherine Asencio

I found out about Face Value, Westchester County's new anti-smoking campaign for teen girls, from my sister. She heard on the radio that the campaign was holding auditions for a commercial. I wanted to take part in the commercial to try to help young people get the message about the dangers of smoking.

The Face Value campaign tells the truth about smoking: it wrecks your appearance, drains your spending money, and exposes your body to around 4,000 dangerous chemicals. And if you don't think smoking is seriously addictive, get this: nine out of ten teen smokers in New York State say they'll quit after high school, but five years after graduation, two-thirds are still hooked on cigarettes.

It was a great experience -- I had a lot of fun! I think Face Vale is important because a lot of people who smoke don't know what they're doing to their body. The one message I would like other teen girls to know is that you shouldn't smoke. If you want to stay pretty and healthy, smoking is definitely the wrong way to do it.