Information About Student Vaping for Curriculum Coordinators, Health Educators, and Teachers

Quality school programs to prevent tobacco use.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides evidence-based recommendations to help design and implement quality school programs to prevent tobacco use. While the tobacco industry continues to engage schools and offer free tobacco prevention curriculum, industry-sponsored school-based programs are ineffective and may ultimately promote tobacco use among youth. 

Here's what you can do.

Educate yourself about e-cigarettes

Knowing what these products are and what they look like can be a helpful part of addressing student use at school.

• Frequently Asked Questions about Vaping – GetOutraged.org
• Vapes and Industry Tactics– GetOutraged.org

Update curriculum to address the harms of nicotine and e-cigarette use

• Tobacco Industry-Sponsored Youth Prevention Program in Schools (PDF)
• Tobacco Use Prevention Through Schools: Guidelines and Strategies
• HECAT: Module T (Tobacco-Use Prevention Curriculum)
• Massachusetts Anti Vaping Curriculum Resource Guide - In 2019, the Massachusetts Action Coalition received an award from the National Campaign for Action to create a statewide, evidenced-based, adaptable, developmentally appropriate curriculum on the impact of vaping on student health and wellness for grades 6-12. The guide focuses on curricula which included lessons and activities intended for classroom use.

Use relevant, youth friendly lesson plans

• E-Cigarette Prevention: CATCH My Breath – CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health). A youth e-cigarette prevention program targeting ages 11-18. The program is divided into 4 sessions lasting 35-40 minutes each and uses a variety of educational strategies including: cooperative learning groups, group discussions, goal setting, interviews, and analyzing mass media.
• The Tobacco Prevention Toolkit – Stanford University School of Medicine. A toolkit for teachers with in-classroom units and lesson plans on e-cigarettes, tobacco, and nicotine. The toolkit includes PowerPoints, discussion guides, worksheets, and activities.
• ASPIRE – MD Anderson Center. ASPIRE is a free, bilingual, online tool that helps middle and high school teens learn about being tobacco free.
• smokeSCREEN: A Smoking Prevention Videogame – play2PREVENT
• The Real Cost of Vaping –A collaboration between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Scholastic, information and lesson plans for grades 6-8 and 9-12.
• Consider incorporating the facts and information from Vapes and Cigarettes: Different Products. Same Dangers. and Facts. No Filters into lesson plans or using them to spark classroom discussion or projects.
• Know the Risks: A Youth Guide to E-cigarettes – A presentation from the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health to educate youth on e-cigarettes. This resource is intended for adults who educate or serve youth ages 11–18 and includes a document with talking points.

Resources on substance use disorder prevention (not specific to tobacco/nicotine)

For middle schools only:  Project Here - Through integrated in-classroom and digital learning experiences, Project Here educates young people about the risks and consequences of using and experimenting with substances, empowers them to help others, and gives them the tools they need to make healthy decisions.

Consider being an adult advisor of an 84 Chapter

The 84 is a statewide movement of youth fighting tobacco in Massachusetts. Youth groups in a middle school or high school, or community organizations who want to fight against the tobacco industry’s tactics can sign up to become an 84 Chapter and be a part of the movement. Chapters educate their peers and adults about the tobacco industry’s tactics; help to create change locally and statewide to reduce the influence of tobacco in their communities; promote social norms messaging around youth tobacco use; and more. Visit The84.org for more information.