E-Cigarettes: Talk to Youth About the Risks

Teenage school kids smiling to camera in school corridor

If anyone can speak firsthand about the significant rise in e-cigarette use by kids, teens, and young adults, it’s someone who works with them every day. Lauren W., a high school teacher in Pennsylvania, often hears her students talking about using e-cigarettes. But when it comes to the dangers of nicotine and addiction for young people, she does not believe they really understand how dangerous e-cigarettes are for their health.

“I talk to them about the risks all the time,” she says, “and those talks reveal that they have never really thought about it.”

As someone who can influence young people, Lauren is doing what she can to teach them about the harms e-cigarette use can have on them. “They are always interested when I pull up research and start listing off findings,” she says.

This fall, as young people get ready to return to school, you have the power to start the conversation. Whether you are a parent, a teacher, a coach—or even a health care professional helping to make sure kids start the new school year in good health—you have an important part to play when it comes to talking to kids about the harms of e-cigarettes.