“She’s grown up in such an anti-smoking household, I didn’t think I’d have to worry about her vaping.”
Melbourne mum ‘Josie’ admits she was caught by surprise when she found out her 15-year-old daughter had been vaping for a few months – and with statistics that show one in six high school students have vaped recently, she’s definitely not alone.
But in the wake of recent news about the Australian Government’s roll-out of a national program to prevent young people from taking up vaping, Josie is hoping that her two younger children have the reasons why vaping is so unhealthy for them reinforced in as many ways as possible beyond their household.
The OurFutures Vaping Program aims to reach more than 3,000 schools across the country. It’s a free, opt-in initiative supported by federal funding and is available to all students in years seven and eight across all Australian high schools.
Schools across the country are encouraged to register their interest in the OurFutures vaping program. Young people can get further information about vaping and their mental health at www.health.gov.au/vaping/facts.
Behavioural issue for teachers, health worry for families
In Australian schools, experts say vaping has become endemic, with principals and teachers regarding is as the number one behavioural issue for many students.
By creating educational conversations with young people in the early years of high school, the program’s purpose is to highlight the power of prevention, before bad habits kick in.
The data shows that 12-year-olds who have already vaped are 29 times more likely to go on to try smoking than 12-year-olds who have never vaped. Josie says statistics like that “fill me with fear” that her daughter will continue down a path of poor health choices that may have a serious impact on her future.
The OurFutures Vaping Program was co-designed with educators and young people and has a goal to put vaping education and intervention within reach of all students, regardless of school resources.
The program is underpinned by a comprehensive harm-minimisation and social influence approach that endeavours to cut through misinformation and empower young people to make the positive choice to avoid vaping.
Roll-out follows successful trial
A trial of the unique program, developed and delivered by the University of Sydney’s Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, is proving to be successful.
That trial, led by Professor Nicola Newton, Dr Lauren Gardner and Associate Professor Emily Stockings, is the first clinical trial of an online vaping prevention program in Australia. Initial results with more than 5,000 students across New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia showed that, immediately post-program, students reported significantly reduced intentions to vape, as well as improved knowledge about risks and harms associated with vaping.
More than eight in 10 students reported that the skills and information they were exposed to during the program would help them deal more effectively with future vaping situations.
“Vaping is a modern problem, and we need modern and innovative solutions if we are to avoid another generation of people becoming addicted to nicotine,” Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said when the roll-out announcement was made on 15 November.
“We’re standing with thousands of parents and educators who are rightfully concerned about the impact of vaping and cigarettes on the health and wellbeing of young Australians.”
OurFutures Institute CEO Ken Wallace joined Butler and some of the program’s key researchers at Cannon Hill Anglican College in Brisbane, when the funding initiative was launched.
“This critical investment from the government comes at a crucial time for Australian students who are facing enormous pressure and suffering significant harms from vaping and e-cigarettes,” Wallace says.
“The national roll-out of the OurFutures Vaping program will make a huge difference to the wellbeing of many young Australians.”
Hitting the prevention education sweet spot
Wallace has a background in education technology and told EducationDaily that understanding the issues young people today face was a critical part of the program’s development.
Although building awareness is enhanced by talking to teachers and leaders in the education and health sectors, Wallace says that the success of any prevention program can only be measured by the responses from the people it aims to educate and support.
“The vaping issue has grown and it’s great to see the government is happy to roll out this national program to help protect the health of young people,” he told EducationDaily.
Wallace says that, when it comes to vaping prevention education – and education around many things aimed at teenagers – years seven and eight are a recognised “sweet spot”.
“It’s an ideal age because it’s when they’re on the precipice of adolescence,” he says.
“Trying to teach them too late can be exactly that – too late. Which doesn’t make it impossible…but it makes it harder. But trying to teach them too young can also be problematic. Talk to kids in grades three and four about vaping and they’re more likely to go, ‘oooh…what’s that?’ and get curious about it.”
The power of prevention
For ‘Josie’, her own efforts to change the mind of her vaping daughter will continue, and although she says it is causing her ongoing stress, she says she won’t give up.
She agrees that an education program that talks to younger teens is a smart move – and she says it’s an approach she wishes she had paid more attention to in her own home.
“Parents can’t assume their kids are going to avoid vaping,” she told EducationDaily.
“It’s in their faces in so many ways – if not their own direct friendship groups, it’s so many people you see walking around, plus all the vape shops and the social media influence. That old saying that prevention is better than cure has a lot of truth to it. Talking to them about prevention can change lives.”
