Healthcare and education leaders unite to address vaping in schools
Teachers and educators were provided with tools and techniques to help encourage school students to abstain from vaping at workshop held at Westmead Hospital.
Western Sydney delivered a workshop to more than 35 education professionals, giving attendees the knowledge, skills and confidence to help students to stop vaping in their local schools.
Delivered by the Western Sydney Local Health District’s Prevention Education and Research Unit (PERU), the workshop is part of the Unpacking Vaping in Schools Project, an initiative to strengthen the capacity of schools to respond to youth vaping in a coordinated, compassionate and evidence-informed way.
Prof Smita Shah OAM is the Director of PERU and says the workshop encourages primary and secondary teachers and support staff to attend.
“It is our dream to have our young people stand up against the tobacco companies, say no to vaping and beat it out of our schools — and this is what we are seeing in the schools we work with.”
As a head teacher of wellbeing from a local high school said, although most students don’t vape, the program gave them tools to use straight away.
“It’s still a widespread issue that people need to know about and advocate for cessation and health promotion.”
The program covered presentations, group problem solving, case-study discussions and hands-on practice using vaping cessation tools. These were used to create an engaging session, allowing participants to build connections and broaden their support networks.
Participants discussed evidence-based approaches to reducing vaping, while also considering the wellbeing needs of students.
“We focus too much on punishment rather than finding the root cause to why they are vaping.”
One teacher said.
Beyond vaping, it also explored how to encourage students to choose healthier options.
Among several takeaways, one was loud and clear – addressing youth vaping requires a coordinated, whole-school approach, informed by public health evidence.
PERU acknowledges the ongoing support of Western Sydney Primary Health Network, operated by WentWest, and the Westmead Association for their generous support of the event.