The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is spending over $200,000 on an anti-tobacco video game for fifth graders, where they will navigate through “cancer rooms” to find hidden objects to beat cigarettes with.
Described as an “innovative STEM game,” the project is based off of a 1980s anti-smoking cartoon, which was also financed by the NIH.
“The proposed game is a ‘Hidden Object’ type of application,” a grant for the project states. “As character [sic throughout] move around he will progress through puzzle rooms named after the problems associated with tobacco use e.g. Cancer Room, Heart Disease Room, and Lung Disease Room, Nicotine Addiction Room, Oral Cancer Room, Gum Disease Room, and so on.”
“Challenges and puzzles consist of hidden objects, word searches, matching activities, and other challenges,” it said. “When a puzzle or challenge is completed, characters will receive something that will help him [sic] fight the ever-present cigarettes, cigars, and chewing tobacco containers.”
The game will be tested in three elementary schools on both students and teachers. Research will continue until July 2016, and has cost $224,767 so far.
Click here to read more from The Washington Free Beacon.
Teaching kids not to smoke is fine, but is that really the federal government's job, especially considering the mountain of debt we already have?
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