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School-based Programs
March 2009
Young people at risk
Forty-five children in Washington start smoking every day.
Surveys of adult smokers in Washington show that about half of them had
first tried cigarettes by age 14, and 70 percent of them were smoking
regularly before they left high school.
Implementing school-based efforts
To help keep kids from starting to use tobacco, the Department of
Health’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Program provides funding and
consultation to schools through Washington’s nine Educational Service
Districts. School programs:
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Educate
students about the dangers of tobacco.
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Promote
strong “no tobacco use attitudes” among students.
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Provide
students with skills to resist peer pressure to use tobacco.
The programs
focus on students in grades 5-9, the grades in which most tobacco use
begins.
Washington used the federal government’s
Guidelines for School Health Programs in designing its school
programs. The guidelines call for comprehensive programs that:
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Implement a research-based, anti-tobacco curriculum.
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Train teachers and staff to implement
curricula.
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Develop, strengthen, and enforce
tobacco-free school policies.
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Support quit programs for students who use
tobacco.
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Involve parents, families, students,
staff, local government, and other community members in the school’s
anti-tobacco program efforts.
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Conduct regular assessments of the school
program.
An Oregon study showed that
comprehensive school programs are far more effective at reducing student
tobacco use than programs that rely on classroom lessons alone.
Forging working partnerships
Efforts with Washington
schools involve broad collaboration across several public and non-profit
agencies, including the Office of the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, school districts, local health departments, and
community-based organizations.
The Educational Service Districts, with
their proven ability to deliver regional assistance to all 296 Washington
school districts, coordinate the distribution of state resources to
schools. The Educational Service Districts provide information to
schools, train school staff, and hold schools accountable for measurable
outcomes.
Licensing and monitoring sales
The Tobacco Program works closely with the state Liquor
Control Board to ensure retailer compliance with tobacco sales laws.
The Liquor Control Board conducts on-site inspections to ensure that
signage, compliance, and licensing requirements are met; tracks and
enforces violations; and works with retailers to correct problems.
In addition, the Tobacco Program and Liquor Control Board track the
distribution of free tobacco products in clubs and at events like fairs,
concerts, and rodeos, and work with communities to ensure applicable laws
and requirements are met.
Restricting social sources
As tobacco becomes more difficult to obtain from stores, kids turn to
social sources, such as older friends, family members, and other adults
to obtain tobacco. The Tobacco Program and its partners are
producing new programs and informational materials to discourage adults
from providing tobacco to minors. The program encourages local
programs to try innovative approaches to limiting youth access to
tobacco, such as Puyallup’s Tobacco Intervention Education and
Support project in which local officials combine enforcement of youth
possession laws, school policies, and public education to discourage
youth from buying, possessing, and using tobacco.
A
comprehensive approach to fighting tobacco use
Research shows that tobacco prevention programs must conduct a
comprehensive set of strategies to be effective. The Washington
State Tobacco Prevention and Control Program provides services to help
people quit, conducts public awareness and media campaigns, supports local
programs in communities and schools, supports enforcement of policies to
keep kids from accessing tobacco products, and evaluates the effectiveness
of program activities.
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