This project attempts to provide a forum where youth voices and perspectives can be heard by all key stakeholders and workers involved in Tobacco Control. It is motivated by a desire, articulated by a concerned Maori workforce, to strike a balance between the interventions, programmes and resources being planned, with the voices of those who are being targeted.

As in all relationships with adults, young people appreciate being treated with respect. This respect can be demonstrated by invitations for youth to participate in key conversations, and to provide opportunities within forums for input.

The following sample is part of a larger resource that was developed primarily to aid and assist all workers who operate within the Tobacco control sector, and who work with Maori.

Strategy: Forty students from Hato Petera College were invited to participate in filmed interviews, initially in groups of 5-7 and with an occasional individual who consented to be filmed for deeper analysis and discussion. Interviews were a maximum of sixty minutes duration and students were engaged by members of the project team to discuss their attitudes, beliefs, opinions and behaviours associated with their own and group use of tobacco. Emphasis was placed on youth identifying for themselves key triggers for smoking, core beliefs around imaging (particularly self and group identity) and the context in which smoking occurs.

Conclusion: This programme was part of a wider initiative and served as a pilot for the project. Four further colleges in Te Taitokerau are also participating with the project team.