The voices of children are pleading with riders on light-rail trains and platforms in the Twin Cities to "love your lungs," just one of a series of anti-smoking messages recorded by the kids of Metro Transit employees meant to discourage lighting up on the Blue and Green lines.

"Please don't smoke at the station or on the train. You harm my health when we ride together. Thank you," says part of one of the announcements that began playing on platforms and trains this week.

Smoking on light-rail trains has drawn more customer complaints than any of the bad behavior that has plagued the Blue and Green lines in recent years, General Manager Lesley Kandaras said.

"We were looking to communicate our expectations to riders in a new way," Kandaras said, noting that standard recorded announcements using a monotonous voice can easily blend into the background. "It is intended to get attention, but also to humanize the impact of this really inconsiderate act of smoking in an enclosed transit vehicle."

Some riders who have heard the young voices come over the intercom have taken to social media to describe the effect as "jarring," "startling," "annoying" and "loud." But that doesn't mean they don't want it to work.

"It definitely made me think I was in a horror movie for a minute the first time I heard the disembodied voice of a small child echo through the train," wrote a user on the social website Reddit. "No idea if it will make any kind of difference, and if it does that would be great."

Kandaras said the recordings alone won't solve the problem, but that it's meant as an innovative attempt at solving a persistent problem.

Besides bringing the anti-smoking messages to social media platforms in the coming weeks, Kandaras said Metro Transit continues to deploy police officers and community service officers to remind people not to smoke on trains or at platforms and who will respond when they find that behavior. By the end of the month, more agents from the agency's Transit Rider Investment Program will also be on the case, too, she said.

Metro Transit recently revised its code of conduct and placed signs at bus stops and rail platforms setting rules and expectations for users of the state's largest transit system. Future announcements may focus on littering, vandalism, playing loud music and other unsavory behaviors.

"We are not going to stop with smoking," Kandaras said.

In conjunction with the announcements, Metro Transit recently kicked off an evolving "Take Pride in Your Ride" campaign. It begins with "The Great Week in Transit," which will run Monday through Friday. Hundreds of Metro Transit employees will be riding trains and buses to mingle with passengers and share information about the revised code of conduct.

Executives such as Kandaras will be out and about as well.

"We want everyone to have a comfortable and safe experience riding with us," Kandaras said. "We need all riders respecting each other on the system."