More about us
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“We are
to Big Tobacco.”
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REBEL is on a mission.
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REBEL works!
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REBEL-lion is good, and we’re organized to fight!
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Join REBEL
“We are to Big Tobacco.”
This is our rallying cry to let everyone know that REBEL teens are wise to the lies that the tobacco industry uses to sell its deadly products. We believe that when teens know the truth, they cannot be bought by tobacco advertising dollars and promotions designed to make smoking look cool. is an expression of our generation’s freedom from addiction, manipulation and death caused by Big Tobacco.
REBEL is on a mission.
Each year, 19,700 New Jersey teens under 18 become daily smokers - that's 54 teens a day! We know that one tobacco company actually called teens "replacement smokers" for customers who die. Is that fair and ethical? We don’t think so. We know that tobacco companies are working as hard as ever to get youth addicted to smoking and enlist more lifelong customers.
Well, we are working hard, too. Our mission statement is: We are a statewide, youth-led, youth-driven, anti-tobacco movement whose mission is to reach, educate, and empower New Jersey’s youth to make healthy lifestyle decisions and to support non-smoking norms.
REBEL works!
REBEL is statewide. We have chapters in 210 high schools in all 21 New Jersey counties. We may be in your high school. But if not, it may be just a matter of time, because we’re growing. At any given time, there are about 9,000 members. The number changes as members graduate and new members come on board.
In 2003, the Surgeon General of the United States called REBEL one of the most dynamic, youth-led, anti-tobacco movements in the country. That’s us, and we’re proud of it!
REBEL-lion is good, and we’re organized to fight!
Each county has a Youth Coordinator and each school has a school adviser to help us plan and secure resources to carry out our activities. REBEL teens select leaders from their groups to serve on planning boards at the county and state levels. This way, our ideas get heard and we can direct our own programs. Here is how it works:
From the school → to the CRB → to the YAB → to the K-9
- The CRB: Each high school REBEL chapter chooses a representative to report to the County Representative Board (CRB). The CRB shares event ideas, helps resolve issues within school chapters and plans countywide events.
- The YAB: Within the CRB are two elected leaders who represent their county on the state-level Youth Advisory Board (YAB). The 42 YAB members participate in YAB Retreats where they address county issues, share success stories, brainstorm activities and vote on amendments to the REBEL bylaws.
- The K-9: From the YAB, nine leaders emerge to make up the Council of Nine (K-9). These leaders represent the nine REBEL regions of the state. They plan the Annual REBEL Summit and the REBEL Tobacco Learning Institute.
Join with us, and help us fight the good fight against Big Tobacco.
Join REBEL
You can join if you are in high school. It doesn’t matter if you are a smoker or a non-smoker. You can be passionate about helping smokers to quit smoking or about adding your voice to REBEL’s call for teens never to start smoking.
Joining is easy. You can join through your high school, become a cyberactivist or do both.
