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Special to the Daily Journal/Messenger

Clemson University senior nursing students, from left, Katy Atkins, Katy Fuller, Sarah Toms, Anne Farish, Heather Leroux, Mallory Musiel and Kaitlin O’Brien pose with Walhalla Middle School principal Chuck Middleton. The students recently conducted a survey among 230 eighth-graders at the school concerning the dangers of tobacco use and secondhand smoke.

WALHALLA — The Clemson University nursing program and Walhalla Middle School have enjoyed a “healthy” partnership through the years.

Various nursing groups, led by CU Nursing Instructor Betsy Swanson, have surveyed students and collected data on such topics as energy drinks, alcohol, diabetes awareness, nutrition, exercise and physical fitness and obesity. This year, the group chose tobacco use, including the dangers presented from secondhand smoke.

“The students are required to do a nine-week service learning project for their class,” Swanson said, adding, “After consulting with (Walhalla Middle School principal) Mr. (Chuck) Middleton, we found it was something that needed to be addressed.”

The nurses, consisting of Katy Atkins, Katy Fuller, Sarah Toms, Anne Farish, Heather Leroux, Mallory Musiel and Kaitlin O’Brien, collected data and presented it to students in the form of skits that dealt with peer pressure and other factors.

An initial survey was also conducted among 230 eighth-grade students — 116 females and 114 males — and the results were staggering:

• 72.6 percent said they had friends or siblings who use tobacco

• 64.3 claimed they could get tobacco products from someone they know

• 62.6 percent have adults in their home who use tobacco in some form

• 39.1 percent claim to have seen tobacco products at Walhalla Middle School

• 18.3 percent believe that using tobacco products is not dangerous

• 16.5 percent claimed they saw tobacco products at their elementary school

Middleton said a post-survey was conducted following the students’ presentation.

“The results of the post presentation survey haven’t arrived at Walhalla Middle School yet, so we don’t know if the percentage of responses — such as those who feel the use of tobacco products is not dangerous — will change,” Middleton said.

The nurses not only presented their findings to Walhalla Middle School students and faculty, they also appeared last week before the Oconee County School Board of Trustees to discuss their work.

Swanson said she is proud of the time and effort provided by the students in the project.

“These guys have done a superb job with the statistical analyses and their presentation was superb,” she said.

The nurses admitted they were surprised when viewing the initial survey findings.

“I was surprised that a lot of them had access to tobacco,” Leroux said.

Mallory Musiel said eighth-grade is a pivotal time to teach students about the dangers of smoking.

“When they get to high school, they will find that peer pressure is at its worst,” Musiel said.

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