Schools

Youth exposure to secondhand smoke is still a problem in many Massachusetts schools. The Surgeon General has concluded that there is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure. Even brief exposures can be harmful.

Because of the clear health risks of secondhand smoke, it’s illegal for students, school staff, and visitors to smoke or use tobacco products in school buildings and on public school property at any time.

All elementary and secondary school communities should create, implement, and enforce a tobacco-free policy. This site provides a foundation for policy, while offering school community members with other resources to prevent youth tobacco use. Tobacco use and secondhand smoke in schools is a problem that everyone can help with.

Teachers and Administrators play a huge part in the school community. Here is a list of things they can do to prevent their students from getting involved with tobacco.

Teachers Can

• Set a good example by not using tobacco.
• Use curricula and teaching methods that meet the criteria in CDC's Guidelines for School Health Programs to Prevent Tobacco Use and Addiction.
• Work with other school staff to coordinate tobacco-use prevention efforts and give students consistent, reinforced messages.
• Teach tobacco use-prevention issues in a variety of classes, such as science, history, and English.
• Encourage and support the efforts of students and school staff to quit using tobacco. 
• Prohibit tobacco use by students participating in sports and stress the adverse effects of tobacco on sports performance.
• Involve families and community organizations in tobacco-use prevention activities.
• Find and use national, state, and local resources for tobacco-use prevention education.
• Participate in tobacco-use prevention training and share experiences with other teachers.
• Evaluate tobacco-use prevention activities and student progress.

Administrators Can

• Organize a school health committee that includes all key groups and has a mandate to develop tobacco-use prevention policies and programs based on the CDC guidelines.
• Enact and enforce policies that require school facilities, grounds, and events to be tobacco free.
• Communicate tobacco-use prevention policies to staff, students, parents, and the community.
• Require tobacco-use prevention education for students in grades K–12. 
• Encourage the establishment of tobacco cessation programs for students and staff.
  Involve teachers and other staff, families, and community members in key decisions about tobacco-use prevention programs.
• Hire teachers with training in preventing tobacco use and provide ongoing training that focuses on teaching strategies for promoting healthy behaviors.
• Encourage activities to evaluate the effectiveness of programs to prevent tobacco use.

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