D.A.R.E. Responds to Vaping Crisis with New Enhancement Lesson

Vaping Enhancement Lesson

Vaping nicotine nearly doubled among high school seniors from 11 percent in 2017 to 20.9 percent in 2018. More than 1 in 10 eighth graders (10.9 percent) say they vaped nicotine in the past year, and use is up significantly in virtually all vaping measures among eighth, 10th and 12th graders¹. These are—by far—the biggest one-year increases ever seen for any substance in the history of the MTF survey².

In response to this crisis, D.A.R.E. has developed and launched a Vaping Prevention enhancement lesson for both Middle School and High School students. In these lessons, students will learn about the risks associated with vaping and understand how knowledge of risk factors increases over the lifespan of a product. The lesson is FREE to D.A.R.E. communities.

The Vaping enhancement lesson is a 45 minute lesson designed for deliver by D.A.R.E. Officers. This lesson has two versions that present the information at two developmentally appropriate levels of complexity: one is designed for Middle School students in 7th or 8th grade, and one for High School students in 9th or 10th grade. In these lessons, students will learn about the risks associated with vaping and understand how knowledge of risk factors increases over the lifespan of a product.

Lesson Objectives

• • Recognize and identify basic information about vaping.
  • Understand that most people in their grade do not vape.
  • Identify similarities between tobacco and vape use, attitudes, and effects.
  • Identify risks associated with nicotine use.
  • Understand that products initially appearing safe may later be considered harmful as research and user data are studied over time.

1. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/teens-using-vaping-devices-record-numbers
2. https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/noras-blog/2018/12/monitoring-future-survey-results-show-alarming-rise-in-teen-vaping