Afterschool and vaping prevention: Free online resources to help incorporate prevention into your programming

Image by Sarah J. from Pixabay

As we navigate new terrain during this year's Mental Health Awareness Month, the COVID-19 pandemic is opening up new conversations about how we can safeguard and strengthen the mental well-being of children, young people, and families. Thoroughout May, we'll be highlighting how afterschool programs support children and young people as they face both new challenges, particularly social distancing's impact, and more familiar issues, including trauma, ACEs, and substance use.

Read the rest of our Mental Health Awareness Month coverage here.

Over the last few years, e-cigarette use—commonly known as vaping—among youth has skyrocketed. Compared to 11 percent in 2017, 27.5 percent of high school students in 2019 reported using e-cigarettes in the past month;¹ since 2011, the use of e-cigarettes among youth has increased by 1,800 percent.² Vaping can have long lasting health impacts on youth, who are often unaware of the consequences of using e-cigarettes. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has reported that teens who use e-cigarettes are more likely to start smoking combustible tobacco products such as cigarettes and cigars, which have serious health implications. There is additional concern around the impact of nicotine dependence, especially on adolescent brain development; this is particularly concerning since a majority of teens using vaping products have reported not knowing that the products they are using contain nicotine.³ The CDC is also currently investigating a spike in lung injury associated with vaping products, which resulted in an increase of vaping-related emergency room visits in August and September of 2019.⁴

Afterschool and summer learning programs have long been identified as valuable spaces to build protective factors and decrease risk factors among youth. By supporting youth, connecting them with vital community resources, and providing them with adult mentors, programs are well-situated to offer youth the tools they need to make healthy choices. Many programs are beginning to incorporate elements of substance use prevention into their programming to better meet the needs of their youth. For example, at the national level, the Boys and Girls Club of America has created SMART Moves (Skills Mastery and Resilience Training), a prevention and education program offered at clubs around the country that addresses problems such as drug and alcohol use; 4-H offers Health Rocks!, a program that supports youth in making healthy decisions around tobacco, e-cigarette, and alcohol use.

For programs that are interested in providing vaping prevention programming more explicitly, below are a number of free resources and tools that offer different ways to approach this topic with youth. All resources are available online and many are catered to function virtually!

Stick to the facts

Rather than using a fear-based approach to deter youth from involvement in risky behaviors, including vaping and smoking, it is much more effective to approach youth using evidence-based models that focus on facts and information that allow youth to make informed decisions with that knowledge. For example, The Real Cost of Vaping is a resource created by Scholastic to put the information into the hands of teens that focus on the health effects of vaping and e-cigarette use. Their lessons allow youth to do their own research into the effects of vaping and understand the difference between facts and myths about tobacco and nicotine. The resources include written lessons, videos, and digital activities and are curated for different age groups, with one set of lessons for middle school youth and one for high school youth.

Make it relevant and age-appropriate

In addition to providing youth with facts, it is critical to focus on framing prevention in a way that is age-appropriate and relevant to youth. One aspect to think about, for example, is the delivery method. ASPIRE, created by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, is a smoking and vaping prevention interactive experience—a creative approach to teaching kids about the dangerous effects of vaping and strategies for dealing with peer pressure. This free, evidence-based online curriculum is offered in both English and Spanish and is structured in a way that makes learning fun and engaging for middle and high school teens, which has been very effective in reaching students. 97 percent of participants reported learning new facts about tobacco and 94 percent reported that the program influenced their decision to not use tobacco in the future.

At BeVapeFree.org, students can take a virtual field trip to learn more about the vaping epidemic, hear from their peers about how they successfully avoided using e-cigarettes, and explore the ways that marketing and social media influence the way that youth perceive the risks of vaping.

Focus on youth empowerment

Another key factor to focus on when working with youth on substance use prevention is the importance of youth voice and youth choice. Youth are some of the most powerful voices in promoting positive decision making among their peers, so it is important to include youth as an active part of prevention programming. For example, CATCH My Breath is a peer-reviewed, evidence-based program that uses a peer-led teaching approach to provide students with the information they need to make choices on e-cigarette use. With this model, an adult moderates the lessons, but the focus is on peer-led groups where youth break out into smaller cohorts to engage in discussions and activities. The program also includes a service learning project led by the students; for instance, students may choose to advocate for more clear policies around vaping at their schools, in which they would research their school’s current regulations, come up with their own recommendations, and present those recommendations to school administrators and school board. The free program is available in tracks for 5th/6th grade, 7th/8th grade, and high school students and has been very successful in empowering students to make healthy choices—7 out of 8 participants say they are less likely to use e-cigarettes after CATCH My Breath.

With resources like those created by Caron Treatment Centers, programs can also support and empower youth that have already begun using vaping products and are struggling with nicotine addiction. For example, CONNECT 5 is a nicotine reduction and cessation digital experience designed to help youth make a positive impact on their health; through these modules, youth are empowered to set goals, develop increased levels of self-awareness, and build resiliency skills. 

This list is only a small sample of the different ways that afterschool and summer learning programs can begin to engage with youth around vaping prevention. Programs serve as a critical touch point for youth and can be a vital resource in making sure that they have the knowledge and skills to make informed choices about vaping and e-cigarette use.