Tag: Tobacco-free Schools

Charity urges Edinburgh schools and youth groups to use resources encouraging young Scots to live tobacco-free lives

ASH Scotland is urging high school teachers and youth workers in Edinburgh to use the health charity’s updated resource packs to inspire young people to make confident, informed decisions to protect their long-term health by not taking up smoking or vaping.

The Tobacco-free School and Youth packs, which each feature 30 engaging activities that can be used in lessons and group sessions, are being published by the health charity as the major public health issues of youth smoking and vaping are causing ongoing concern for teachers, parents and people working with children.

The packs provide facts and statistics covering a range of topics such as ‘Smoking and mental health’, ‘Smoking, vaping and peer pressure’, ‘Being confidently nicotine-free’ and features new exercises on nicotine pouches to support the delivery of personal and social education classes or for youth group activities across various subjects.

Sheila Duffy, Chief Executive for ASH Scotland, said: “As concerned teachers and youth workers across Scotland regularly contact us for information about tobacco and nicotine products such as vapes and pouches, we have produced updated resource packs with robust, evidence-based content to engage and empower young people in Edinburgh to make informed decisions about protecting their health and wellbeing.

“Our Tobacco-free School and Youth packs are especially designed to be effective learning aids to facilitate classwork and activities to help equip children to increase their knowledge about the health risks associated with smoking, vaping and using nicotine pouches.”

To download the packs, visit https://ashscotland.org.uk/tobacco-free-schools-pack/

and https://ashscotland.org.uk/tobacco-free-youth-pack/

Charity urges Secondary Schools to use new resource to inspire pupils’ confidence to live tobacco-free lives

ASH Scotland is encouraging secondary school teachers in Edinburgh to use a new resource pack as part of cross-curricular learning to inspire young people to make confident, informed decisions to protect their long-term health by not taking up smoking or vaping.

The Tobacco-free Schools pack, which features 28 engaging activities that can be used in group lessons, is being launched by the charity at a time when the major public health issues of youth smoking and, increasingly, vaping are causing great concern for teachers and other school staff working with children.

The pack provides up-to-date facts and statistics covering a range of topics such as ‘Understanding addiction’, ‘Smoking and mental health’, ‘Are e-cigarettes safe?’, ‘Being confidently nicotine-free’ and ‘Cigarette butts and e-cigarette waste’ to support the delivery of personal and social education classes or for classwork across various subjects.

Sheila Duffy, Chief Executive for ASH Scotland, said: “With concerned teachers across Scotland regularly contacting us for information and advice about tobacco and vapes, it is important that those working with young people in Edinburgh can access robust, evidence-based tailored resources to engage and empower youngsters to make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing.

“We are pleased to launch our new Tobacco-free Schools resource pack which is specially designed to be an effective learning aid to enable teachers to facilitate classwork to help equip pupils to increase their knowledge about the risks associated with both smoking and vaping.

“The pack’s interactive resources offer opportunities for teachers to promote a smoke and vape-free culture on school campuses through building the confidence of students to prevent peer pressure from steering them in a harmful direction and, instead, make positive choices to protect their physical and mental health by not smoking or vaping.”

To download the pack, visit www.ashscotland.org.uk/schoolspack