Kiaora whanau! Last week the school received the results of an annual survey on Smoking.

This survey is conducted by ASH (Action for Smokefree 2025) in schools throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. and records smoking statistics for Year 10s. Our students seem to be leading the way with regards to smoking tobacco.

The key findings from this survey are as follows:

· Daily smoking decreases and daily vaping increases

· Daily smoking rates have decreased significantly (to 1.3%) in 2021 from about 2% between 2015-2019

· Daily vaping rates increased significantly (3.1% in 2019 to 9.6% in 2021)

This sharp increase in vaping is worrying as vaping is very harmful. So, if you know (or suspect) your rangitahi is regularly vaping I encourage you to discuss the effects of vaping, and how your rangitahi might quit.

Linda Beach

Hauora Navigator