sound of death
OBJECTIVE:
To help youth understand the sheer volume of deaths caused by tobacco as opposed to deaths from drugs, alcohol, homicides, etc. This can be your closing activity, following your discussion.
MATERIALS:
• Ball bearings or other hard objects such as pennies, BBs or popcorn kernels
(approximately 1,800). Pre-count these objects as indicated below (statistics of deaths). For ease of re-using without having to recount, empty prescription bottles can be labeled for each cause of death. After the activity the objects can be returned to the bottles)
• 1 large can (e.g. coffee can) for tobacco.
• 5 cans in descending sizes for alcohol, AIDS, auto accidents, heroin/morphine and cocaine/crack
• 6 empty prescription bottles to hold pre-counted BBs or other selected objects.
• Labels for cans & bottles (you can label your poison e.g., alcohol, AIDS, tobacco, etc.)
STATISTICS ON DEATHS:
(NOTE: Deaths represent the number of people who die EACH DAY in the US from these causes)
• Start-up (just drop one BB in the can so they connect it with the sound of death)
• 7 - Number of people in US who die each day from cocaine and crack
• 9 - Number of people in US who die each day from heroin and morphine
• 117 - Number of people in US who die each day from car accidents
• 38 – Number of people in US who die each day from AIDS
• 129 – Number of people in US who die each day from alcohol (includes drunk driving)
• 1,212 – Number of people who die each day from tobacco related causes
(tobacco or secondhand smoke)
ACTIVITY:
Create a somber mood for the activity. Have the audience close their eyes and ask them to think of someone they know that smokes or has smoked. Do they know of someone that has lung cancer or emphysema? Perhaps they know a smoker that has a smoker’s hacking cough, one of the earliest signs of damage.
• Drop one BB into a small can and ask them to think of that as someone who has died. Explain that each sound they hear is another death that day.
• Starting with 7 BBs for cocaine and crack, drop them slowly into a can.
• Proceed with heroin and the others, ending with tobacco.
DISCUSSION POINT:
Kids may relate 1,292 deaths each day in US to other events that cause death that we think are terrible, yet tobacco companies get away with it every day. Some comparisons to use are:
• On September 11, 2,830 people died when the planes hit the World Trade Center towers. Every two days, that many people die from tobacco related causes.
• When a jumbo jet crashes, 400 people may loose their life. What would we think if 3 jumbo jets crashed every day in America? Yet, we accept tobacco deaths?
• Compare the number of tobacco related deaths each day to the number of students in your school (e.g. 600 students). Imagine if the twice the number of people in this school died today?
Optional:
The BBs can also be placed in envelopes that are sealed and labeled with the cause of death and the number of people. Hand the envelopes out to selected children and have each one come to the front, announce the death they have and have them open the envelope and pour into the appropriate can.
NOTE: Timing is very important in this demonstration. If you pour the BBs to quickly, the impact will be diminished. If you pour to slowly, the audience may feel that you are over-dramatizing. Not, too, that a pause after the last BB is dropped gives the audience time to reflect on what you are communicating. Using an amplifier or microphone makes the sound effect even greater.