About a third of teenagers have tried vaping. Vapes contain chemicals that can cause cancer and lung damage. So how can we have positive conversations around vaping with students?
Monash University researchers in collaboration with QUIT Victoria have produced a set of resources called ‘Seeing through the haze’ to help teachers educate their students about vaping.
‘Seeing through the haze’ supports teachers to develop a series of learning activities that build young people’s health literacy including critical thinking skills.
The free 3-part resource is mapped to the Australian Curriculum and provides examples of activities teachers can incorporate into their lesson planning. The resources for Years 5-6 and 7-10 are now available.
'Seeing Through the Haze' - available to download at Quit Vaping Facts
Why vaping education is important for students
In the past few years, we have seen a sharp increase in the use of vapes by young people, including teenagers. Social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram expose young people to vape advertising.
Research shows that young people who vape are about three times as likely to take up smoking. This is concerning as smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disease. This is still the case despite a decrease in smoking rates since 1991.
The classroom provides an ideal place to educate young people about the harms of nicotine and smoking. The Cancer Council Victoria states that the need to help students understand vaping health harms is urgent.
How the resources work
The separate age-appropriate resources, in the form of workbooks, can be downloaded for students to complete.
The approach invites students to take on the role of community health researchers and their overall mission is to plan a campaign that aims for a vape-free future. They will look into why vaping has become popular and how it affects health. They will find out why companies want young people to use their products and about the tactics they use to push their products onto young people. After that research, they will create a local youth led campaign that seeks to positively contribute to a vape free future.
The campaign element of the resource provides an opportunity to reach out to local council and/or community health centres and connect with their efforts to address vaping in the local community. Additionally QUIT is running a competition where teachers can submit student campaigns.
Case study: Ballarat Community Health
Alexandra Bell, a Health Promotion Officer at Ballarat Community Health, is currently supporting two secondary schools in Ballarat to implement the resources. Alex says that ‘the resources are terrific as they invite young people to do my job, they get to become community health researchers who investigate vaping and then put their learnings to work by creating a campaign that seeks to address vaping in their local school community’. She says it’s beneficial to have young people leading this work as they understand what the issues are for young people and can then shape their campaign to address those issues. Alex can't wait to see what the students create for their anti-vaping campaigns. Any campaigns completed before October 7 2024 will also be submitted for Quit Victoria’s School Challenge.
Ballarat Community Health is a lead partner in the VicHealth funded, City of Ballarat led Central Highlands Vaping Prevention Project. Through the project, Ballarat Community Health, and their partner Health Services in the Hepburn and Moorabool Shires, has funding to support an additional 22 schools across the region to implement the Seeing Through the Haze resources. The funding will be used to action the innovative and exciting anti-vaping campaigns designed by students as part of module 3 ‘Making Change’.
Once all 24 student designed anti-vaping campaigns have been developed, there is an opportunity for students across the region to vote on their favourite campaign. The winning campaign could then be amplified by the Grampians Public Health Unit as part of their Catchment Plan.
The workbook has 3 parts:
1. Getting the facts
Students will gather basic knowledge and skills required to help understand vaping and its impacts on health.
They will examine:
- What are reliable and trustworthy sources of information
- Vaping in the media
- Statistics about vaping
- Evidence of personal and environmental harms
- Cessation support
2. Seeing through the haze
Students will learn how social and commercial factors can contribute to decisions about vaping. Students will also consider the role of social norms play in shaping behaviours.
3. Making change
Students create a campaign that can be applied within their school or local community. They are provided with a case study to learn about how local councils make change. Students draw from their learning in the previous two modules and can connect with community health workers, local councils, and health promotion officers to develop a student-led project that connects with the real world.
Download the vaping resources
Note: Teachers can access a companion teaching guide, which includes information to better understand the resources. It includes lesson planning suggestions, curriculum links, and answers to the activities.
Evidence-based resources are a critical step
The resources are designed to build key health literacies and empower students to work together to create a vape-free future for better long-term health outcomes for themselves and the community.
