Be Vape Free - Virtual Field Trip
Be Vape Free - Educator Resources
“No one has the right to threaten the health, education, and well-being of children by involving them in illegal or inappropriate work.” - Hilda Solis
As August hits each year and summer winds to a close, like any teacher I start gearing up for the beginning of the school year. This year is no different, except I am especially excited to have students back in the classroom after the COVID school year of 2020-2021. In my particular school district, we went from remote learning into a hybrid set-up as the months went on last year. I am hopeful that having a room full of students for 2021-2022 will be refreshing and energizing, even amidst the upswing of the Delta variant and its potential effect on education.
Will we stick with in-person learning? Are we going to be masked and distanced again all year? How and what do I plan if we end up changing learning styles because of the pandemic?
The potential for overnight change has me thinking of Health Ed units that can work for students both in person and while remote. I want to keep the flow of my 9-week course at the middle school level. I want to maintain focus on skill development and fuse in content where it makes sense. And I want to remain open to altering my lessons to stay pertinent for the youth of today.
Perhaps the most significant guiding question gets me thinking bigger than just my community: What do teens in the pandemic era need from schools and teachers?
Feedback from students is that they look to Health Class to provide them with mental health coping strategies (self-management), social heath reminders (communication), and healthy habits (decision making).
The great news is that skills-based Health Education fits into all of this.
Specifically, there are a few units at the middle school level I want to strengthen. One is a decision making unit (NHES #5) in 6th grade that focuses on the content of substance use/chemical wellness. This is the age where we dive into the benefits and downfalls of drugs and medicine, namely the difference between over-the-counter drugs and something like nicotine and tobacco products. By 7th and 8th grade, we are then able to take on other gateway drugs of alcohol and cannabis while referring to the DECIDE model throughout.
Youth Vaping Statistics
While sometimes difficult, and certainly not without effort, health educators want to make sure they stay up to date on things since teen trends can change in just a few short months. Here is where we are in the youth vaping epidemic:
Adolescent vaping use by high school rose from 1.5% of students in 2011 to 27.5% of students in 2019.
1 in 10 middle school students and 1 in 4 high schoolers used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days.
Most teen users got their e-cigarettes from a friend (57% of high school students and 59% of middle school students).
Flavored e-cigarettes are the preference for recent users (85% of high schoolers and 74% of middle schoolers).
Since 2019, youth vaping has been on the decline, and that is largely in part because of quality skills-based health education programs.
Be Vape Free
Recently, I happened upon some Discovery Education resources for a few “virtual field trips” they have just launched. Their press release can be found here.
These resources are created in conjunction with the CVS Health Foundation and CATCH My Breath. Like many health educators, I was familiar with CATCH and so I dove into their newest work on the vaping epidemic. This caught my eye because of my need for additional resources for lessons on decision making and nicotine products, plus it can be modified in case of hybrid or remote learning needs.
Be Vape Free is a nationwide initiative providing standards-aligned e-cigarette prevention resources at no-cost for educators teaching grades 5-12. It is evidence based, working with current trends reported from the CDC, and it looks like the partnership will continue to provide up-to-date information for students, parents, and educators alike.
What I Learned
All the high-quality dynamic digital content is aligned to learning standards and is available
at no-cost!
The Be Vape Free resources are aimed at younger students in upper elementary or early middle school.
The educator guide offers some basics on vaping terminology and some of the truths of what is in vape products.
Videos include the science of e-cigarettes, advertising and social media, peer pressure, and potential consequences of vaping.
Teachers can use the “Just the Facts” page in conjunction with “Clearing the Air” and other CATCH My Breath resources, picking and choosing segments that fit their age population and curricular needs.
Included in Be Vape Free is a simple “Vapor vs. Aerosol Demonstration” that can be done in person or adapted through the screen in case of remote learning.
More slides from what CATCH calls their Core Program can be accessed for free upon registering as an educator. (Scroll down— lots there!)
While I don’t have one to share (yet), a unique webquest can definitely be developed using these links in combination with the resources below.
Further Resources
More background on CATCH and links about vaping can be found from good friend Andy Milne’s Slow Chat Health post from a couple years back.
Teachers may benefit from checking out other CVS Health partnerships below. As you can see, there is a plethora of information and resources here. If I find the time, I will try to get into each of these for a quick review as well!
Yale’s play2PREVENT Lab: smokeSCREEN Game
With a focus on behavior change, education, health, well-being, and social intelligence, the smokeSCREEN Game delivers an effective intervention to promote healthy lives for youth and young adults.
smokeSCREENGame.org
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: Taking Down Tobacco Online Advocacy Training
For more than 20 years, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has fought to protect children and save lives from the #1 cause of preventable death: tobacco use. These in-depth trainings help young leaders take their advocacy to the next level.
takingdowntobacco.org
Truth Initiative: This is Quitting
Truth Initiative is America’s largest nonprofit public health organization dedicated to making tobacco use a thing of the past. Designed specifically for teens and young adults, This is Quitting is a free quit-vaping text message program that is one of the few resources available to young people.
truthinitiative.org
The American Lung Association: Communities in Action
The American Lung Association is leading the way in helping all Americans breathe easier. We are America’s trusted source for lung health education, lung disease research, support, programs, services and advocacy. Access resources to help create tobacco-free schools.
lung.org/cvs
DoSomething.org: The Hit We’ll Take Campaign
DoSomething.org is mobilizing young people in every US area code to sign up for a volunteer, social change, or civic action campaign to make real-world impact. The Hit We'll Take Campaign empowers young people to join the movement to make the next generation tobacco and vape-free.
www.dosomething.org
American Cancer Society: Tobacco-Free Generation Campuses Initiative
The Tobacco-Free Generation Campus Initiative provides generous grants to accelerate and expand the adoption and implementation of 100% smoke- and tobacco-free policies on college campuses across the nation.
tobaccofreecampus.org
Reflection Questions for Teachers
What skill unit and content do you include for drugs like nicotine and tobacco products?
Is there an attention getter, images, video, or activities that you have found to work best when discussing decision making? Will you share any ideas or examples?
Do you have any success stories in helping students examine their habits and the influences on their thoughts and actions?
Are there trends in your specific community in regard to youth vaping? Do you stay up to date on the YRBS data?
Best of luck to everyone as the new school year starts up! Other activities and lesson ideas are shared throughout the school year on social media. Join the conversation!
YouTube.com/MrTodnem Facebook.com/MrTodnem Twitter.com/ScottAmpersand
References: Discovery Education; the CVS Health Foundation; CATCH My Breath.