Steps to a Healthier Rockland County

Welcome to Young Lungs at Play!

Young Lungs at Play is designed to eliminate cigarette smoking at outdoor play areas in Rockland County.  Secondhand smoke is dangerous to all people and children are especially vulnerable. As part of Steps to a Healthier Rockland, the Young Lungs at Play program has been created to protect kids by limiting their exposure to secondhand smoke and the discarded cigarette butts found at all outdoor play areas.

The program invites municipalities, schools, faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, camps and childcare facilities in Rockland County to join the County of Rockland in eliminating children’s exposure to secondhand smoke at outdoor play areas.  The program, which began in June 2006, is a joint effort of the County of Rockland’s Office of the County Executive, Rockland County Department of Health, Rockland County Department of Environmental Resources and the POW’R Against Tobacco Coalition.

So far, 12 towns and villages have joined Young Lungs at Play creating resolutions designating play areas as tobacco-free zones.  In addition 31 schools, 5 day camps, 12 apartment/condo complexes, 15 childcare facilities, and 6 faith-based organizations have adopted Young Lungs at Play!
»View List of Young Lungs at Play! Participants

Tobacco-Free Parks and Playgrounds Do Matter!
Communities across the country are going tobacco-free as a way to protect both children and the environment.

Keep Our Kids Safe
The secondhand smoke from cigarettes and the accompanying butts are hazardous to children.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies secondhand smoke as a Class A carcinogen, meaning it is a substance known to cause cancer.  The smoke from cigarettes also contains more than 4,000 chemicals, where 2,000 are poisons and 69 are cancer-causing agents.  Secondhand smoke leads to many serious illness including asthma, respiratory infection and cardiovascular disease.  Moreover, children exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to suffer from upper respiratory and ear infections.

Small children are at risk of swallowing, choking or burning themselves with the discarded cigarette butts.  They are also at risk of poisoning themselves with the drug nicotine.

Keep Our Parks Clean
Cigarette butts are the most littered items in the world.  Cigarette butts, which take decades to decompose, are costly to clean up.  They make play areas in Rockland County appear dirty and uninviting.

Young Lungs at Play helps give children and adults alike the clean, beautiful play areas that they deserve. 

Be Good Role Models for Our Kids
No law exists which guarantees a person’s “right” to smoke in Rockland County parks and adults smoking in family-friendly parks makes this behavior appear acceptable to children.  The program helps maintain parks as places with fresh air, natural beauty and people engaging in healthy activities.  Since children view adults as role models, tobacco-free adults in tobacco-free parks send positive messages to kids.

Community Support for Young Lungs at Play
Most county residents support banning smoking in outdoor public spaces. According to the 2006 Community Survey of Rockland County residents:

• 90% said that regular exposure to secondhand smoke is harmful or very harmful.
• 69% would support a regulation that prohibits smoking in outdoor public spaces in which children play, such as playgrounds, fields and parks.
• 62% would support a regulation that prohibits smoking within 30 feet of the entrance to a workplace or restaurant.
• 76% would support a regulation that prohibits smoking in bus shelters.
• 56% would support a regulation that prohibits smoking in other outdoor public spaces, such as walking trails, pools or picnic areas.

FYI...
There is No Risk-Free Level of Exposure to Secondhand Smoke.  The U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that breathing even a little secondhand smoke poses a risk to your health.