Bradenton Teens Win National Award for Anti-Smoking Video

A band of Bradenton teenagers from Harlee Middle School recently won the grand prize in a national video contest about the dangers of tobacco.

Dantreal Waiters and his SOZO rap group won the $1,000 grand prize in the 13 to 17 age group. The youth rapped about the dangers of tobacco, its effect on youth and why they’re not buying it.

“It’s been amazing just to see these kids really gravitate to something positive and use their gifts to reach other teenagers to spread a message not to use tobacco products,” said the group’s mentor Dwayne Parker.

This is the second time a Bradenton teen has taken national honors for a rap video. Earlier this year Southeast High School Sophomore Christian Alvarez won a national award from Mothers Against Drunk Driver for his rap video warning about the dangers of underage drinking.

The SOZO (which means salvation in Greek) rap group is part of Manatee Youth for Christ (YFC), an after-school mentoring program. Dantreal Waiters, 14, is featured rapping in the music video along with Glenn Franklin, 14; Johnny Cintron, 14; Christian Cintron, 13; and Danique Waiters, 15.

The nationwide contest, which was sponsored by U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin's Office, asked youth and young adults to produce original videos based on the theme, “Tobacco – I’m Not Buying It.”

After a period of public voting, a panel of tobacco prevention and control experts selected the winners from the top 10 entries. The nine winning videos include four from Florida. The grand prize winning video in the Spanish category was submitted by Sarah Skipper, Karolina Almasi, Taylor Crews, Natalie Curtis, and Malorie McKinnon from the University of Florida.

“The fact that so many of the winning videos are from our state is a sign that Florida’s youth and young adults understand the real dangers of tobacco and are making the right choices by choosing to be tobacco free,”  said Kristina Wiggins, Deputy Secretary of the Florida Department of Health. “These four amazing videos represent our state’s next generation taking a strong stance against tobacco.”

The contest was launched in conjunction with the Surgeon General’s first comprehensive look at youth and young adult tobacco use in nearly two decades. Florida's high school smoking rate, which was at 11.9 percent in 2011, is below the national average.

For more information on the Surgeon General’s Video Contest for Youth and Young Adults and winning videos, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/2012/contest/.