With Vaping On The Rise, You Need To Be AWARE
Juuls are the flash drive look-alike that are taking the world by storm one puff at a time. Just when parents thought that smoking cigarettes was out, e-cigarettes are in.
According to the Juul Lab website, the shape and size was designed for portability, and was intended to be an alternative to smoking cigarettes. Although, as many are realizing, Juuls have proven just as addicting to some as the cigarettes they are trying to escape.
The AWARE program is a group of Hillsborough students aiming to change this.
AWARE (Advocating Wellness Through Addiction Resources and Education) travels to classrooms within the district to educate on the dangers of smoking of any kind.
Spearheaded by Mrs. Anna Mahler and Mrs. Katherine Stein at Hillsborough Middle School, AWARE coordinates peer educators to educate students in the district about healthy lifestyles within the more intimate setting of a class, rather than a large-scale assembly.
Game played with students
The student-to-student education is key to seeking progress in lowering the number of Juul users in the town, as it is easier for children to grasp the message from their own peers. The program aims to target as many schools as they can, and don’t shy away from students as young as elementary-school aged.
Originally focussing on traditional cigarettes, Mahler explained of the addition of vaping to the program, “Over the last few years, the lesson has incorporated more information about vaping, due to the dramatic rise in e-cigarette use with the marketing of Juuls and other youth-friendly products.”
At the end of each AWARE session, students are asked to sign a pledge, vowing to abstain from smoking or vaping.
Mahler is dedicated to making the voice of the program heard district-wide, and said, “I am passionate about our prevention efforts, and want the community to know what we are doing to address the health and well-being of our students.”