What Works

The Comprehensive School Health Approach to Tobacco-Control - It Works

Just educating students on tobacco and its dangers will not affect change. Schools must also create an environment that encourages and supports behavior change. This is what "comprehensive school health" is all about...it reinforces health and smoking cessation on many levels, and in many ways. Rather than just educating students on why they shouldn't smoke, we also support them in their attempts to quit and provide a school environment conducive to not smoking.

We know that no single approach to prevention or cessation will be effective with all students, all the time. As such, schools must take a variety of interventions within the 3-tiered model of comprehensive school health: education and awareness, services and support, and healthy environments.

For example...

Education and Awareness: a school might integrate tobacco issues into the curriculum, but understanding that not all students respond to traditional learning techniques the school also offers more interactive activities such as a tobacco trivia contest, poster contest, guest speakers and videos.

Services and Support: in addition to offering a smoking cessation class, schools may encourage cessation through a buddy system, peer counseling or one-on-one support. Further, schools should offer this support throughout the academic year, not just one time...perhaps several students will want to quit smoking in September, but others may decide to quit in March. The same is true for education and awareness, these should all continue throughout the year, not just on one day or during one week.

Healthy Environments: when we talk of healthy environments this includes not only the school, but also the community and home environments. While schools cannot directly control the home environments of its students you can have an influence by sending letters to parents about: your smoke-free policy, support offered by the school for smokers and non-smokers, or to share ways that they can support their child in quitting smoking. You may also assist parents in quitting smoking by having a smoking cessation table at parent teacher or informing them of the free services available in the community to help them quit the habit.

Curious about what other high schools are doing?

Check out the summary of activities from 2004-2005.

New Brunswick program aims to promote physical, mental well-being