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orld No Tobacco Day was commemorated on May 31. Initiated by the World Health Organization, it is a day that highlights risks attributed to tobacco use. It is also a day that underlines the importance of effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption. In Indonesia, this year’s straightforward theme, “a threat to development,” rings true. As a country with one of the highest rates of cigarette smoking, inconsistencies surrounding tobacco control continue to raise dispute.

The year 2017 will mark the second year we enter the sustainable development goals period. In the comprehensive set of 17 goals and 169 targets, tobacco control is specifically mentioned as a means to reach health-related goals and targets.

Indonesia is struggling with the problem of young smokers, with three out of 10 smokers aged 15 to 30, and most smoke their first cigarette before they are 19, according to the latest national health survey of 2013. This means Indonesia has the world’s highest growing rate of beginner smokers.

The achievement of sustainable development goals by 2030 will depend not only on the current development actors but also on the quality of youth — the future development actors and policymakers. What will become of the 65 million youth when a quarter of them are smokers, increasing their vulnerability to non-communicable diseases blamed on tobacco?

Behavior, whether health-conscious or not, is not inherent, it is learned. So are habits, formed by new behavior that become automatic. Teachers become role models for students, a parental figure almost; in a place where they spend most of their time outside the home.

Each school individual that smokes contributes to the growing number of smoking students. Principals, teachers, administrators, security guards — when they smoke in a school environment they have an undesirable influence on students.

To curb the effect of tobacco on students and schools, the Education Ministry in 2015 issued guidelines for educational authorities to take proactive preventive action upon encountering smoking at school. According to the regulation, everybody in a school environment is subject to reporting and penalties when caught smoking in a school environment.

Schools should ensure that rules on no-smoking are applied, providing safe spaces for all its individuals to participate equally in its enforcement. However, the Global Youth Tobacco Survey of 2014 showed more than two-thirds of students aged 13 to 15 have noticed someone smoking on school grounds. Tobacco advertising inside the school perimeter is also banned, although in reality, several steps by the school are all it takes to see cigarette advertisements posters and banners with youth-oriented messages.

Schools actively involved in preventing tobacco consumption are not only about implementing rules; they can also contribute to prevention in other ways. As role models, teachers can be made aware of how their visible smoking behavior affects students, backed with data-driven evidence that shows how other than parents, a teachers’ smoking habit leads students to perceive smoking as positive action and therefore has the potential to inspire students to smoke.

Another way to empower teachers in preventing tobacco consumption is through collaboration with health promotion specialists and civil society organizations. With the right tools, teachers can embed useful information such as impacts of tobacco consumption in their teaching modules, adapted to the students’ characteristics and their respective subjects.

Families can also be involved in a school’s effort to create tobacco-free spaces. Engaging parents through assignments and interactive tasks can lead to a household atmosphere that discourages tobacco consumption.

The potential for teachers to become an influence beyond the classroom is vast, given the opportunity. Tobacco control intervention that empowers students will have a stronger effect when paired with activities that also increase teachers’ awareness.

With almost 150,000 state elementary schools across the country, there is a wide opportunity to deliver prevention programs through teachers’ empowerment in key stages of youth development.

Finally, teachers in Indonesia as the main actors of human resource development need to reflect on one of Ki Hadjar Dewantara teachings — “education and teaching [...] must be based on the culture and society of Indonesia, and meant to achieve the advancement of both mental and physical well-being.”
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Anindita Sitepu is a health psychologist and Fadjar Wibowo is a physician and health policy observer. Both work for the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives.