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Smoking & Health Lessons

While anti-smoking campaigns by public health entities as well as private organizations have helped to curb the epidemic use of cigarettes by teens, there is still a real health crisis in the United States and around the world as a result of smoking. Developing health lessons on the detrimental affects of smoking can help to reduce the number of young people that take up this dangerous habit. It is important to tailor your lesson on the negative effects of smoking to the age of students.

  1. Anti-Smoking Films and Handouts

    • Making use of supplemental materials such as handouts and films on why smoking is harmful can help to get your message across in a way that a dry lecture may not. There have been a number of documentaries about the effects of smoking on the smoker as well as bystanders who breath in second hand smoke. Use overhead transparencies or a PowerPoint presentation to show images of the effects that smoking can have on the lungs and heart. Very few things are as effective in deterring smoking as showing what actuality happens to an individuals lungs after smoking for several years.

    Discussion

    • Teenagers have a tendency to believe because they are young, the negative aspects of smoking will not affect him right away, if ever, so why worry. It is also important to point out that smoking is illegal for individuals under 18. Open up a discussion on topics related to smoking, for instance, why many public places ban smoking, like the affects second hand smoke on people who are subjected to it by those that choose to smoke around others.

    Expelling Myths About Smoking

    • As you may already be aware, teenagers don't always seek out or, much less, take the advice of teachers, parents or other adults on subjects like not smoking. Even if a teenager is aware that smoking is dangerous the "smoking is cool" factor can often get in the way of him exercising sound judgment. Smoking has for some time in actuality been considered not cool. In fact, numerous celebrities have worked on public campaigns to bring home to young people that smoking is a nasty and uncool habit. Dispelling the myths like smoking is cool, or that quitting is easy, can help to deter students from ever starting to smoke.

    Classroom Activities on Smoking

    • Develop classroom activities that are geared toward interaction through discussions and/or projects that teach children or teens about the dangers of smoking. Provide students with factual information that will steer them away from ever taking up smoking. For instance, provide data from the National Institute of Health describing the additive properties of nicotine.

    Guest Speaker

    • Ask one or more guest speakers to your classroom to talk about how smoking has affected his life personally whether he talks about having emphysema or the loss of a love one due to smoking. You may also want to invite health professionals to speak on the medical ramifications of smoking on the human body. A counselor could likewise offer examples of how smoking can be harmful to your mental health and social life.

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