Students that use tobacco lack the tools to quit. Not on Tobacco (N-O-T) provides these needs tools. N-O-T is a school-based tobacco cessation program designed for youth in grade 7 through 12 who are daily tobacco users (smoke and oral). The program may also fulfill requirements of the West Virginia Board of Education Policy 4373 “Expected Behavior in Safe and Supportive Schools” for Level 3 meaningful interventions.”
• Tobacco users have more absences
• Smoking causes memory and cognitive impairment in adolescents
• Nicotine withdrawal causes increased anger, hostility and aggression
• Young Female Smokers Face Higher Breast-Cancer Risk
• Youth Desire to Quit Smoking, But Don’t Seek Effective Care
As a direct result of N-O-T and ATS programs during SY 12/13, there was a combined quit rate of 39 percent or 100 children that gave up tobacco; this does not measure the number of children that may have quit at three and six months post program.
Facilitators who run the program must be skilled and sensitive so they can effectively relate to teens, listen supportively to their concerns and refer them to the extra help they may need, both in the school and in the community.
Alternative to Suspension (ATS) Program
The ATS program is also taught simultaneously with N-O-T and can be offered as an option to students who face suspension for violating a school’s tobacco use policy. It consists of four sessions that address student tobacco use; the program is flexible and can be adjusted to the individual school’s needs. Unlike N-O-T, this program is mandatory and may serve as a motivator for teens to join the N-O-T program when they are ready to quit.
The training is free to adults serving youth (age 12-18) in West Virginia. Lunch and supplies are included. Contact ALA-WV to register or for more information: Chaste Truman Barclay, ALA-WV Program Specialist at 304-342-6600 or cbarclay@lunginfo.org.
CEU’s available for Nurses and Respiratory Therapists.