Local students join forces to tackle vaping harms

Efforts to curb youth vaping across the region are gaining momentum, with local initiatives helping to spark vital conversations and raise awareness about the risks among young people.

Backed by a $200,000 VicHealth grant and led by the City of Greater Geelong, the Barwon South West Vaping Prevention Coalition has so far engaged more than 20 secondary schools and community groups in its programs.

This includes senior students at North Geelong Secondary College and Northern Bay College who, through terms one and two, worked with the city’s youth development team and program partner CatholicCare Victoria on a co-design project aimed at increasing awareness of vaping harms and empower students to say “No”.

Putting their lived experience front and centre, participants developed and presented a project pitch to their peers, with students and teachers then voting on their favourite vape prevention concept to bring to life.

A series of posters and short animations communicating the ingredients in and associated harms of vape use, as well as information about where young people can seek help, was among the most popular.

 

“It is really concerning how many young people are taking up vaping right now; it’s higher than ever before,” Lacey Young, a youth council member and participant in the local youth vaping action group, said.

“But the good thing is, young people aren’t just standing by.

“Youth-led groups and initiatives allow us to find ways to prevent and reduce the rise of vaping amongst adolescents. It shows that we care and are willing to take action to help stop vaping from becoming the norm.”

Geelong mayor Stretch Kontelj said the city was proud to lead the vaping prevention coalition and “help local teenagers see vaping for what it is”.

“More and more young people are vaping every year in our region.

“We have more chance of improving health outcomes if we meet young people where they are and connect them to peer-led conversations and appropriate support services.

“While the harms from smoking are more well known, there is a lot less information in the community about how addictive vapes are, the chemicals used, the risks from second-hand vaping and even the environmental impacts of throwing vapes in the bin.”

The Barwon South West Vaping Prevention Coalition is a partnership between the Barwon South West Public Health Unit and Barwon Adolescent Taskforce, along with local councils, health services and community organisations spanning the Bellarine Peninsula to the South Australian border.

For more research-backed information about vapes, head to uncloud.org