Whether you have played on one of the ping pong tables he built or listened to one of his speeches, you are probably aware of the work Stryder Rodenberg has done as part of his senior internship. Rodenberg’s work in his internship is dedicated to combating what he describes as the “teen vaping crisis.”
“My addiction to tobacco was a product of societal standards, intense marketing from tobacco companies, and a world that is super stressful,” said Rodenberg. He became interested in tobacco prevention because he fell for consumer tricks, tactics, and marketing lies. “I believed the lies that were marketed towards me including that e-cigarettes are safer than cigarettes,” added Rodenberg.
The fact that adolescents are very susceptible to addiction and that tobacco companies target middle and high school demographics in their advertising upset Rodenberg. The Gregory School senior dedicated a lot of time and effort to researching the youth vaping predicament. He found that “e-cigarettes are being marketed as safer than cigarettes but the FDA has not recognized them to be a cessation device” and that “there are no long term studies on vaping since it is such a new technology.”
Rodenberg transformed this anger against tobacco companies into a mission to stand up for his peers and youth around the nation. Rodenberg is passionately working on his senior internship, which consists of building ping pong tables, giving presentations, co-founding a club, teaching a course, and being politically active.
One part of Rodenberg’s internship was constructing ping pong tables for the TGS junior and sophomore areas. The tables have been extremely popular around campus. Rodenberg, with the help of various friends, built ping pong tables and cornhole boards over the summer. Rodenberg’s idea behind having the tables on campus is that “when given the opportunity between good and bad, the majority of people will choose good. So, when one has to choose between vaping in the bathroom and playing ping pong at lunch, the majority of people are going to choose the fun and healthy activity.” When asked about the popularity of the tables, Rodenberg replied that he was pleasantly surprised at how many people use them. The ping pong tables have been both popular among the student body and productive in carrying out Rodenberg’s goal to reduce vaping at school.
Besides building ping pong tables, Rodenberg has given numerous speeches to educate the TGS community about the teen vaping crisis. He worked with Ms. Patton to give a series of presentations to the middle school. His speeches focused on what tobacco and nicotine are, the tremendous amount of money tobacco companies spend on marketing towards kids, and how to effectively manage stress.
In addition to educating the middle school student body about the dangers of tobacco use, Rodenberg thought it was important that he talked about healthy stress relief. Rodenberg added, “addiction is not caused by the chemical hooks in drugs but rather one’s environment and what one is going through.” It was very important to Rodenberg to talk about stress management when discussing teen vaping.
Not only did Rodenberg deliver a series of speeches to middle school students, but he also presented to parents. His speech was dedicated to educating parents about the teen vaping predicament and vaping from a kid’s perspective. Also, Rodenberg gave a short talk to the TGS faculty at the beginning of the school year.
Rodenberg has given most of his speeches to middle school students, but the work of the club he co-founded, Leaders for Public Health, affects upper school students as well. The mission of the club, which he founded with senior Katie Kanter, is to educate the TGS student body on worldwide issues that affect public well being with an emphasis on mental health. Since its inception this year, the Leaders for Public Health club has focused on planning a Challenge Day. Challenge Day will take place on January 10th for all upper school students during E3 and E4. The aim of Challenge Day is to inform TGS upper school students on ways they can improve their mental health.
Rodenberg’s passion for educating his peers about tobacco use extends outside of The Gregory School. He is the teacher of a course about nicotine addiction at the Tucson Village Farm for students from the 4-H Program. His lessons have been about the risks of vaping and the factors that drive addiction. Each student individually carries out an outreach project where Rodenberg serves as an advisor.
The work that Rodenberg has done for his senior internship also includes creating political change. He has given multiple calls to the public in support of ratifying Southern Arizona legislation that pushes back the selling age of tobacco from 18 to 21 years old. When reflecting on a speech he delivered in front of the Tucson City Council, Rodenberg said that he “talked about how the vaping crisis is the result of stress and trauma among teens and it is not just happening because kids want something to do.”
Rodenberg’s speeches made an impression on the councilmembers, as the tobacco selling age was increased to 21 years old in Tucson.
Stryder Rodenberg’s personal experience with vaping and his frustration towards the tactics tobacco companies carry out inspired him to create tangible change through multiple projects. His passion to curtail vaping inspired him to embark on numerous successful initiatives that will make a difference among the TGS community and local youth.
Written by Drew Messing
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