Victorian 10-year-olds to learn how to escape the vapes
This masthead reported last year that school principals were rostering teachers to monitor toilets at recess and lunch to stop children vaping, teenage vape dealers were often schoolyard fixtures, and some students struggled to get through three-hour exams without nicotine withdrawal.
The new education packs are integrated with the Victorian curriculum, but will not be compulsory.
They will allow teachers to include the no-vaping message in regular classes – including PE lessons – or to conduct dedicated lessons on the dangers.
Anderson said the lessons would help students identify marketing techniques, such as youth-oriented packaging or the use of social media influencers followed by children and young people.
“We want to build an awareness of the fact that they are being marketed to, helping them to understand the tactics of the industry and develop some critical thinking about what that means for them,” she said.
Loading
Anderson said the teaching materials also covered the health impacts of vaping and how to equip young people to resist peer pressure to try e-cigarettes.
Quit hopes the new teaching resources, developed with Monash University, government health and education authorities, and the Catholic and private education sector, would emulate the success of a similar initiative aimed at year 7 and 8 students launched last year and downloaded by thousands of teachers around the state.
Alexandra Bell, a health promotion officer at Ballarat Community Health, said educators from the area often approached the health service for help in dealing with vaping among their students.
Loading
“It’s giving teachers that information to embed this education into their own curriculum, and they can tailor that to what they need,” Bell said.
“Having that year 5 and 6 resource will be fantastic for primary prevention and helping to take the curiosity out of vaping.
“A lot of young people try it because they’re not quite sure what it is – they’re curious. So we’re giving them the knowledge, taking the curiosity out of it.”
Education Minister Ben Carroll and acting Health Minister Ingrid Stitt backed the teaching resources.
“By educating Victorian kids from an early age about the dangers of vaping, we can help them make healthy choices and avoid the peer pressure often experienced during secondary school,” Stitt said.
British American Tobacco (BAT) and Philip Morris Australia – two leaders in the lawful vape market – were contacted on Wednesday for comment. BAT did not respond and Philip Morris declined to comment.
Get alerts on significant breaking news as it happens. Sign up for our Breaking News Alert.
