The facts speak for themselves: One-half of individuals diagnosed with oral cancer will die from the disease.

It was one of many statistics that gripped the attention of Sheffield High School students Tuesday during an assembly on the dangers of tobacco use. They heard stories and watched videos of teens whose tobacco use led to cancer.

They heard the story of Shawn Masey, an 18-year-old who developed tongue cancer after using smokeless tobacco throughout high school. Despite surgery to remove his tongue and lower portion of his jaw, the cancer spread. He was 19 years old when he died.

A group of students also performed a skit in which a teenager's younger sister and his best friend were trying to convince him to quit using tobacco. Finally agreeing, the teen listed the reasons that make quitting difficult, but his sister and friend pledged their support to help him.

Renee Mullins, the school district's anti-tobacco grant coordinator, shared with students the three aspects of kicking a tobacco addiction: emotional, social and physical.

"The first thing you have to realize is that (nicotine) is one of the most addictive substances there is," Mullins said. "It's an emotional thing because people often use tobacco when they're really down or depressed and it's social because people tend to think it makes them fit in with their peer group."

But the physical part of the addiction brings on many consequences, she said, listing the potential for chronic illness, bad breath, receding guns, yellowed and decayed teeth and cough.

Oral cancer, most prominently evident by white sores in the mouth, requires immediate medical attention.

Ninth-grader Raven Bracey said when she heard there would be an assembly program Tuesday morning, she viewed it as an opportunity to break the monotony of the classroom. But when she saw the realities of tobacco use and its devastation in the lives of young people "it made me determined more than ever to be supportive of friends trying to stop using tobacco. I don't want to see my friends die."

Eleventh-grader J.D. Smith plays three sports and said seeing his father smoke has been a deterrent.

"I want to encourage people to stop doing it, but they don't listen and say they're going to do it anyway," he said. "I just hope they listened good today."

Lisa Singleton-Rickman can be reached at 256-740-5735 or lisa.singleton-rickman@TimesDaily.com.