Vape-Free Schools Initiative

Over 1.6 million kids in the United States vape, and that number has increased steadily increased over the past several years. The American Lung Association is offering a solution.

Through our Vape-Free Schools Initiative, schools are now able to help middle and high school students who are addicted or caught vaping on campus.

Nearly 4,000 kids start vaping every day, and this comprehensive initiative helps schools help their students become healthier and free of a lifetime of addiction.

This includes two new online trainings for school faculty and community partners on how to implement programs to help their students become vape-free.

INDEPTH is an alternative to suspension for students caught vaping or using tobacco products in school. This online training will allow educators to implement a program that addresses nicotine dependence and motivates students to quit.

Not On Tobacco is the answer for schools ready to offer a vaping and smoking cessation program to students. Through NOT, facilitators are trained to help students work together to break their addiction to vaping or smoking.

These programs are evidence-based and proven-effective, and are presented in a user-friendly, intuitive training platform.

Schools who complete these two online programs and a short survey can become part of the American Lung Association's Vape-Free Schools Initiative, which provides a toolkit of resources and tools and allows schools to offer an important solution to a nationwide epidemic.

Learn more and sign up at Lung.org.

Youth vaping continues to be a serious public health concern, with more than 1.6 million middle and high school students currently using e-cigarettes. Schools around the country are struggling with how to address student tobacco and nicotine use, and some have suggested that vape detectors are needed to address vaping in schools. The American Lung Association does not support vaping detector placement in schools and recommends that schools use proven interventions and resources to help students quit vaping for good.

• Schools across the country are on the front line of the youth vaping health crisis and many are looking for ways to address student vaping.
  • Schools, educators and administrators were vital partners in successful efforts to significantly reduce cigarette smoking in teens over the past decade.
  • To end youth tobacco and nicotine use, it is necessary for the entire community to be involved, including lawmakers, parents, teachers, coaches, school administrators, community-based organizations and healthcare providers.
• The American Lung Association does not support vaping detector placement in schools as a strategy to reduce vaping.
  • Vape detectors often lead to a punitive response to vaping, rather than an approach that recognizes vaping as a behavior and potential addiction that requires a behavior-change effort and more thorough approach.
  • Youth who vape need proven interventions to stop, not new punitive approaches that do not help them quit.
  • Teens should not be punished for being addicted to a product that was aggressively marketed to them on social media, through celebrities and with kid-friendly flavors. The tobacco industry must be held accountable.
• Instead of vape detectors, the Lung Association encourages schools and their communities to invest in strategies that are proven-effective to reduce tobacco and nicotine use in teens. The American Lung Association’s Comprehensive Approach to Ending the Youth Vaping Epidemic outlines this strategy, which includes:
  • A comprehensive tobacco-free campus policy such as those found in the Lung Association’s Vape-Free Schools Initiative.
  • Vaping prevention education for grades 5-12 through evidence-based programs such as CATCH My Breath, the Stanford Medicine’s Tobacco Prevention & Vaping Toolkit or the FDA’s The Real Cost of E-Cigarette Prevention Campaign.
  • Resources for parents to talk to their kids about the health impacts of vaping at TalkAboutVaping.org.
  • Implementation of alternative to suspension programs, such as the Lung Association’s INDEPTH® or INDEPTH Online.
  • Voluntary youth cessation programs, such as the Lung Association’s Not On Tobacco® and NOT for Me; and
  • ACT to Address Youth Cessation, which provides schools, communities and health care providers guidance for how to intervene with youth who are using commercial tobacco and nicotine products.
• States should not use Juul settlement funds or state tobacco prevention program funds to purchase vape detectors. These funds should be invested in evidence-based interventions such as the ones outlined above.
• Learn more and get all resources at Lung.org/ecigs.