Educating young people on the risks of smoking
Our Youthwatch volunteers told us that smoking and vaping was a key concern for them, and how it was a growing concern for the young people of Sunderland. With this in mind, we worked in partnership with Sunderland Stop Smoking Service and a HAF group, based at Keep Active North East which delivers fun, enriching activities and tasty, nutritious meals to children during the school holidays, we were able to present an interactive educational session involving risk taking when vaping or smoking to the children.
What difference did it make?
Though this session, young people were made aware of the risks involved with smoking and vaping in a fun and interactive way, which will be more likely to stick in their minds. They also now have the tools and contacts they need to be able to share their concerns to the right people and where to go if they need to know more, which includes Sunderland Stop Smoking Service.
The children now have the confidence and feel comfortable to say no to peer pressure when it comes to smoking and vaping and use their knowledge to help other children to know the risks, reducing the numbers of children and young people smoking in Sunderland.
