Tar Jar

The Tar Jar is a standard prop for any health fair display. It symbolizes the amount of tar which would accumulate in a one pack a day smoker's lungs in a year. The dark, sticky "tar" is a real conversation starter among smokers and non-smokers alike.

What Mommy does, baby does

This small resin display is a realistic looking fetus attached to a placenta which is filled with cigarette butts, pills and beer bottle caps. This is a good display for students, and also when working with pregnant and parenting teens. It can strike up a conversation about proper nutrition, fetal alcohol syndrome, drug-addicted babies, etc.

Cigarette Ingredients

This item looks like a giant cigarette from one side, but when it is turned around it shows representations of the dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes. This is a great visual aid for illustrating the disgusting contaminants that tobacco can contain, and is a very informative prop for youth and adult audiences.

Pickled Liver

This sort of silly visual aid illustrates the damage done to a liver after long term alcohol abuse. It is a plastic jar with a model of a liver with cirrhosis floating next to a model of a pickle. I only show this in conjunction with a picture of a healthy liver to compare.

Youth are usually really interested in this item, but mostly want to know a)is it a real liver (no, but it was cast from a real one), and b) can I eat the pickle (nope, it is plastic). I actually prefer my liver poster to this item, but this is easier to transport.

Mr. Dip Lip

Along the same lines as Gross Mouth, this visual aid is the lower section of a jaw and shows spit tobacco health consequences. Mr. Dip Lip has the lips intact, and the mouth can be opened and closed using the mechanism in the back. Unlike Gross Mouth, the tongue is not removable, nor can you get the jaw to be a "flip top head" and look at the full inside of the mouth, but it is more realistic.

Mr. Gross Mouth

This visual aid is a slightly larger-than-life replica of a mouth riddled with tobacco related disease. The teeth are decayed, some are missing; gums are red and diseased; there are several cancerous masses to see; the tongue has a cancerous spot. All of the ailments are attributable to tobacco use, and we use it with audiences of all ages. It is a real crowd pleaser.

Alcohol and Sex: Prescription for Poor Decision-Making

Distributed By: Human Relations Media
Year: 1998
Length: 21 Minutes


This video chronicles the problems that can result from alcohol and sexual encounters. The video focuses on date rape in particular, but also discusses STD/HIV risk and focuses upon Spring Break culture and the poor decisions made during this time in a young person's life.

This video felt pretty dated to me, with older hair and clothing styles, plus the opening scene featured a girl bungi-jumping.

Interspersed throughout is a very believable portrayal of the he-said/she-said date rape scenario, with the boy assuming that it was consensual, while the girl feeling that she was too intoxicated to have given consent. Note: I am not sure if the youth speaking on this are actors or the real participants in this issue. The video does really outline the lingering problems that occurred for each party, including the girl gaining a "reputation" and not wanting to participate in any further social activities and the boy being disciplined and kicked out of school.

The video also featured a small focus group of youth led by a health professional of some sort discussing the attitudes regarding girls using alcohol--whether date rape is the girl's fault since she got drunk, if the boy had a responsibility to stop if she was drunk and could not consent, if friends should intervene, etc. Additionally, rohypnol and GHB are briefly mentioned.

They also interview spring-break revelers to get their opinions about alcohol's role in the festivities and in sexual encounters.

While this video is noticeably older, the information is sound, and I will still use it. I might add a disclaimer to the youth that it was made more than 10 years ago, so the fashions might be different, but the information is worth listening to.

Binge Drinking: The Rite of Passage

Created by: Solano County Office of Education and Timeline Media Productions
Year: 2008
Length: 30 minutes

This 2 disk set includes the 30 minute movie, a movie trailer, a poster, and educational materials. These materials include curriculum to be read, activities to participate in over a 2-hour period, pre- and post-tests.

This is a good video, very recent (one setting has an Obama 2008 sticker in the background). This video would be appropriate for 9th-12th grade to college aged students--exciting since relevant videos for this age group are rare.

This one relies a lot on adult testimonies (doctors, parents, alcohol prevention professionals). Is California-centric (specifically central/northern). Shows a story from Chico State, so great local relevance for us.