Have you been sucked in?
A presentation to students about ‘Vaping’.
Our guest speaker on Wednesday this week was Sarah Wilson from Te Whatu Ora. Her role is to educate the public and community about smoking, e-cigarettes and ‘vaping’.
Her talk was really informative, and students listened really attentively. Sarah explained what ‘vaping’ was, how e-cigarettes (or ‘vapes’) work, and the make-up of chemicals in e-liquids (vape oils). She spoke about how multinational tobacco companies deliberately target young people in their advertising, to get them addicted to vaping. Her talk was factual and focused on understanding the health impacts for young people.
Like other communities and schools in Aotearoa New Zealand and around the world, we have students who choose to vape. What we have found is that students rarely understand the facts, the law, or the negative impacts on health that come with vaping. Vaping on school grounds in New Zealand is prohibited by law (as is smoking) and we promptly follow up on reports of vaping with the students involved and their parents. Our primary focus is on student health and wellbeing due to the harmful impact of vaping on young people’s health, and we support families with resources and contacts to get support.
Key messages and tips for parents (From Public Health Summary for Schools)
Explain that vaping is potentially less harmful than smoking, but only for smokers who want to quit.
Vaping is not for non-smokers, especially children and young people.
Explain that some vapes contain nicotine and that nicotine is a highly addictive substance which is very hard to stop once you’ve started.
Vaping can also have an adverse effect on their physical activity and sports, and their overall health and wellness.
Resources to explore:
