It's not enough to tell teenagers not to smoke. You have to raise their social consciousness and give them tools to become anti-smoking advocates, health officials say.

A group called Real: Hawai'i Youth Movement Against the Tobacco Industry does that, using word of mouth, music, video, dance and art.

That was the idea behind a workshop this past week at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa where some 85 teenagers discussed how tobacco companies target young adults, women, Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and gay and lesbian populations.

Real was started with the help of money from Hawai'i's share of a national settlement with tobacco companies.

"What we know that works is a well-funded tobacco control effort," said Julian Lipsher, tobacco prevention and education program coordinator with the state Department of Health. "As long as we're able to use the Master Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund money to fund effective programs, we will continue to see a steady decline in the number of high and middle school smokers."

Last year, a survey found that 12.8 percent of Hawai'i high schoolers smoked. By comparison, 20 percent of their Mainland peers smoked, Lipsher said.

The UH workshop aimed to teach Hawai'i teenagers how to be savvy when looking at ads, how to discern tobacco promotion in Hollywood movies and how to stage a rally that will grab the attention of others, said Nicole Sutton, Real program director.

Courtney Viernes-Silva said she is learning about social justice issues tied to the tobacco industry's marketing messages. The 16-year-old 'Ewa Beach resident plans to go back to Waipahu High School and spread the word to her classmates.

"It made me really mad," Viernes-Silva said. "The program broke it down for me and now when I see advertisements, I know what they're trying to say. "

Real has about 3,000 members, ages 12 to 20, statewide. The group's goal is create a smoke-free generation of young people.

The group is run through the UH Cancer Research Center and funded by the Master Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund through the state Department of Health.

Sutton said, "We're all about helping to empower young people to come up with their own solution to stand up against the tobacco industry."