A Regional QI Project
The rise in vaping in middle and high school students, the increase in variety and creativity in marketing vaping products to young people and the increased # of vaping associated pulmonary illness warrants a multidisciplinary approach to protecting young people.
Schools are in a unique position to reduce the problem of tobacco use by children. Youth spend almost a third of their waking hours at school. Much of the peer pressure that youth feel to experiment with tobacco products occurs within the school setting. The peak years for first trying cigarettes appears to be in the sixth and seventh grades, a period when adolescents are particularly susceptible to pressures from their peers. Research indicates that most adult smokers start smoking cigarettes regularly before they graduate from high school.
Research suggests that school policies prohibiting tobacco product use, when consistently enforced, are an essential part of lowering teen tobacco use rates. This proposed project would focus on a review of school tobacco policies to assess if there are any needed revisions/additions to reflect the recent changes in vaping usage, therefore being more impactful.
Schools are in a unique position to reduce the problem of tobacco use by children. Youth spend almost a third of their waking hours at school. Much of the peer pressure that youth feel to experiment with tobacco products occurs within the school setting. The peak years for first trying cigarettes appears to be in the sixth and seventh grades, a period when adolescents are particularly susceptible to pressures from their peers. Research indicates that most adult smokers start smoking cigarettes regularly before they graduate from high school.
Research suggests that school policies prohibiting tobacco product use, when consistently enforced, are an essential part of lowering teen tobacco use rates. This proposed project would focus on a review of school tobacco policies to assess if there are any needed revisions/additions to reflect the recent changes in vaping usage, therefore being more impactful.
