Thursday, October 23, 2003
Eight ways schools can help pupils stay tobacco-free:
Forbid smoking by pupils, staff and visitors on all school grounds and at all school-sponsored events.
Provide comprehensive tobacco prevention education.
Provide program-specific training for teachers.
Involve parents and families.
Offer interactive anti-smoking projects for pupils, such as a letter-writing campaign.
Help tobacco-using pupils and staff to quit with cessation programs.
Adopt a firm school policy of not accepting any funding, curricula, or other materials from any tobacco companies. Renner said 61 percent of the MCAT school districts have such policies.
Evaluate the school's anti-smoking programs at regular intervals to see where it needs improvement and to demonstrate the positive effects to pupils, parents and the community.
Source: Michael J. Renner, executive director of Ohio's Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation