6. Implementation phase

• If you have followed the basic steps above you will be well prepared. People in the community will be interested because the problem you are planning to target will be a familiar one. People will be grateful that something is being done.
• Implement your activity as planned
  Make sure that you have good background information to support your activity. (e.g. if you are going to ask restaurants to be smoke free, you should have data on the percentage of restaurants that are smoke free, and you should also provide a good background on why restaurants should be smoke free!)
• Document your activity
  One person in the group will probably have a camera. Take lots of pictures! You can then post them online and share your experience with others.
• Get the media involved
  It’s very important to get the media involved. They are always looking to cover these kinds of youth participation activities. Plus, tobacco is a controversial issue and it always attracts viewers. If you can get media coverage, people that were not able to participate will hear about what you’re doing on the radio or on TV. If your activity is small (e. g. a group of students evaluating the number of cigarettes smoked in certain movies) you can always give the media your results.
• Evaluate
  After implementing an activity it is always good to evaluate it. How many people participated? Did they like it? Did they learn something? Document your results! Next time you will be better prepared.