The impacts were not only health. In consultation with children of poor families, it was evident that a number of young people may consume up to seven cigarettes per day. When they did not have money to buy cigarettes, a number of them developed abnormal behaviour such as stealing or demanding money from peers. The nicotine-dependency created new social issue which potentially led to children facing the court system.
For Shoim, these facts showed that tobacco issue was not simply an issue of individual choice. This was an issue of child protection, public health, and the future of young generation in Indonesia who needed serious attention of all parties.
When Cigarette Advertisement Targeted Children
Measures to reduce the number of children smokers in Indonesia faced major challenges. The government had issued a number of regulations, yet children remain vulnerable groups to be exposed to tobacco advertisement. For child protection activists, the issue was not merely about smoking habit, but also about how the industry built perception and influenced the young generation from their early age.
Shoim Sahriyati highlighted that children’s access to cigarettes remained very easy. Cigarette retail sale was one factor that allowed children easy access to buy cigarettes with their limited cash. With Rp 5,000, a child could buy a few cigarettes without a problem.
To her, this threat was not insignificant. Data of child smokers prevalence showed alarming trend. Even, government projection showed that without serious intervention from the local governments, the number of child smokers would increase by 16%. This situation was a reminder that child protection should be a high policy priority.
Shoim explained that local government had roles in reducing the number of child smokers. the legal framework was the Government regulation No. 28 Year 2024 which regulated tobacco control. In the regulation, cigarette advertisement in the media was banned within 500 meters radius of schools and playgrounds.
That prohibition was with merit. To date, cigarette advertisement was found in locations near children’s activities. When students exited schools or played in public spaces, they confronted cigarette promotion banners, and stickers. Recurrent exposure shaped perception that cigarettes were normal, interesting and cool.
The industry’s marketing strategy continued to develop. Presence of cigarettes with a fruit-aroma and advertisement about low price were methods to attract children. The message was not simply about product introduction to children, but also building perception that smoking was affordable and safe to try.
Yet, a number of areas started to show positive steps. A number of districts and cities prohibited cigarette advertisement in public spaces. In a number of areas, KAKAK with children forum (Forum Anak) monitored directly advertisement, promotion, and cigarette sponsors. Their finding was then submitted to the local government for evaluation.
The experience showed that it was not sufficient to rely on national regulation for tobacco control. The latter needed local government commitment, community participation, and children’s involvement in creating safer environment. ach missing banner in front of schools was not merely a reduction in advertisement, but real action o protect children’s future in Indonesia.
Tobacco Industry Tactics and Challenges for Child Protection in Indonesia
Despite the many regulation on tobacco control implemented in a number of areas, exposure to cigarette advertisement and promotion targeting children remained a serious issue. For child protection activists, the tobacco industry found new ways of maintaining its influence amidst tightening regulations.
In Surakarta City, for example, the City regulation No. 9 Year 2019 introduced articles that prohibited cigarette advertisement within 200 meters radius of a school, which significantly reduced advertisement spots. Of 250 advertisement spots across a number of locations, now only fifty remained. Yet, the reduction in promotional spaces on the main streets did not automatically stop the industry’s marketing campaign.
Based on activists’ observation of child protection, cigarette promotion entered residential areas. Collaboration with small local shops, displaying banners in villages, to involvement of sponsors in sports events became new ways of maintaining their existence in the community. The strategy not only aimed to introduce the product, but also to build positive image in public eyes, including children.
Children seeing the cigarette logo and name in a number of social activities slowly accepted the message that the product was normal. yet, behind the positive image being promoted, the key objective was the same: to introduce tobacco products to new costumers.
In such context, ratification of Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was essential. The international convention initiated by the World Health Organisation contained a number of strategies for tobacco control, from regulating advertisement, promotion, and cigarette sponsorship, cigarette-free zones, quit cigarette services, to custom policy and health warning on packages.
Indonesiawas one of the countries not ratifying the FCTC. A number of policies on tobacco control proceeded in limited scale and depended on sub-national government commitment. Yet, if ratification had proceeded, the State had the obligation to adjust policies gradually to conform with international standard and to report progress periodically.
A new challenge emerged from technological progress and from social media. If in the past, cigarette promotion was mostly found in banners, now the campaign came through influencers and digital content. Children who idolised public figures in social media could easily be influenced by their favourite figures using cigarettes or vape in their content.
The condition was worsened by vape products with attractive design, various colour schemes, and fruity tastes that targeted young people, including women. All of those gave the impression that smoking was a modern, cool, and socially acceptable thing.
For that reason, it was not enough to protect children from tobacco products by prohibiting advertisement in public spaces. There was the need for broader monitoring of promotion in digital spaces, strengthening regulation, and education in order to build children’s resilience so that they were not easily influenced by efforts at normalising cigarettes that kept going in various forms.
Protecting children from the danger of cigarettes not only depended on government policy, but also on people’s and community’s awareness. In the face of intense exposure to cigarette advertisement, particularly through social media, a number of parties thought that tobacco prevention had to be done in more serious and comprehensive manner.
Shoim Sahriyati believed that social media was a major challenge in child protection. If cigarette advertisement on television was strictly limited, the situation was quite different in digital space. Children could easily find content featuring cigarettes or vape through influencers and figures they idolised.
“Children absorb what they see. When use of cigarettes or vape keeps appearing in social media, there is an opportunity for normalising it in children’s eyes,” he said.
Shoim suggested that the difficulty that Indonesia faced in ratifying the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was not merely a debate about the health issue. From the health point of view, impacts of cigarettes on children and communities were no longer an issue for debates. Yet, there were many other interests that influenced policy decision-making.
“If we talk about health and child protection, it is already final. But the interests of industry, trade, politics, and economic influence made the process more difficult,” said Shoim.
This despite the fact that ratification of FCTC could be key step in the ideal of Golden Indonesia 2045. The generation expected to be the driver of progress had to grow up in healthy and free of addictive substance environment.
“If we want to achieve Golden Indonesia, the next generation should also be gold. One requirement is health and not being addicted to such addictive products as tobacco,” he said.
On the other hand, Shoim viewed that existing policies faced challenges in implementation. People often violated the Cigarette-Free Zone in a number of places, including work environment. For this reason, community monitoring and confidence to expose violation of rules became vital part of creating healthy environment.
Yet, measures for child protection could start from the closest space - family. Shoim reminded that children learned from what they saw on daily basis at home. When parents smoked in front of children, that behaviour would potentially be replicated by children as it was considered normal.
“Protecting children from cigarettes starts in family. Not smoking in the house is the simplest yet most important step,” he said.
She also advised parents to not ask children to buy cigarettes in the shops. It potentially exposed children to cigarette promotion early in their life, and the habit helped normalise cigarette consumption in daily life.
For Shoim, child protection from tobacco products was not merely government task. Families, schools, communities, and the surrounding environment played equally important roles in making sure that children grew healthy and free of tobacco. (Ast)
