You and Me Together Vape Free is a teacher's resource endorsed by CCEA to assist with educating young people on the dangers of vaping. It has been adapted specifically for Northern Ireland by Stanford University and Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke.
Register now using the form below for You and Me Together Vape Free Teacher’s Resource.
Background
Since 2016 there has been a rise in the number of young people vaping. This is backed by the Northern Ireland Young person’s behaviour and attitude survey (2022) which states that 95% of 11–16-year-olds have heard of e-cigarettes. Of those 21% of 11–16-year-olds have used an e-cigarette at least once. With those in the older year groups reporting that they were more likely to have used an e-cigarette, with findings ranging from 6% of those in Year 8 to 44% of those in Year 12. The figures have increased since 2016 with only 10% of Year 12’s reporting that they currently use e-cigarettes to 24% in 2022. The proportion classed as regular e-cigarette users increased from 6% to 17% in the same time period. (Source.)
To help schools tackle this rising issue Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke (NICHS) has been delivering Know Your Risk: Vaping Talks to thousands of post primary pupils across Northern Ireland. However, we understand that teachers need more support, so we asked teachers what they required, and the answer was resources/content that they could deliver themselves.
NICHS is working alongside University of Stanford to revise and develop a Northern Irish version of their 'You and Me Together Vape Free' web-based resource. Which will be available for September 2025.
A big thank you must go to the teachers and pupils of Bangor Grammar, Kilkeel High and St. Malachy’s College Belfast who supported the development of this programme. You and Me Together Vape Free is endorsed by the CCEA and will be a part of the new Prevention Curriculum.
What will be included:
- Teacher’s online educational training
- Parents educational resources
- Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3-4 and Key Stage 4-5 resources.
Topics covered
1. Full of Potential: Your Brain Nicotine Free
By hearing and participating in this lesson, students will:
- Describe the brain functions, including the structures and pathways in the brain.
- Discuss the unique features of the adolescent brain and its vulnerability to addiction.
- Explain the ways the brain reacts to drugs including nicotine.
- Define addiction using the biopsychosocial model.
- Describe the role of nicotine and its addictive properties.
2. Healthy Body, Healthy You-th: Effects of E-cigarettes On The Body
By hearing and participating in this lesson, students will:
- Be able to identify the ingredients in e-cigarettes.
- Be able to identify, categorize, list, and compare and contrast the health effects caused by e-cigarette use.
3. What a waste! Impact of Cigarettes and E-Cigarettes On The Environment
By hearing and participating in this lesson, students will:
- Identify the ways cigarettes and e-cigarettes (including nicotine, non-nicotine, and cannabis) contribute to litter and harm the environment.
- Describe the different parts of a cigarette and e-cigarette that are toxic to the environment and why they are harmful.
- Explain proper disposal of e-cigarettes and cigarettes that protect the environment.
- Develop a health promotion message that addresses the impact of all tobacco products on the environment.
4. Don’t Be Played: How Tobacco Marketing Targets You-th
By hearing and participating in this lesson, students will:
- Students will be able to recognize that the e-cigarette companies are using the same marketing tactics used for decades by the tobacco industry to grab the attention of new and young customers.
- Students will be able to identify implicit messaging used in nicotine e-cig marketing.
- Students will be able to recognize flavoured nicotine products as another marketing tactic to disguise the health harms of their products from existing and potential consumers.
- Students will be able to recognize and discuss the effects of nicotine e-cig industry targeting on youth and their communities.
5. Be Your Strength: Stress, Coping and Wellness
By hearing and participating in this lesson, students will:
- Define what is stress.
- Identify triggers and causes of stress.
- Contrast healthy and unhealthy ways to cope with stress.
- Practice and apply strategies to manage stress.
- Practice ways to manage the stress of friends who vape (responding with compassion and empathy).
- Discover which individual strategy to reduce stress works best for them.
- Destigmatize mental health and substance use.
Teacher Training
The first online training opportunity is scheduled for the end of August. More information to come.
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- Fidelma Carter, NICHS Director of Research, Policy and Prevention (Chair)
- Jessica Perry, NICHS School Health Promotion Manager
- Una McHugh, NICHS Communications and Marketing Officer
- Professor Michael Shields, Emeritus Professor of Child Health (Queen's University Belfast) and retired Consultant Paediatrician (Respiratory Medicine)
- Dr Dara O’Donoghue, Consultant Paediatrician Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children/Senior Clinical Lecturer, Queen’s University, Belfast
- Dr Naomi Kirk, Royal College Paediatric and Child Health
- Barbara Maxwell, Lead Respiratory Nurse, Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children
- Dr Bonnie Halpern-Flesher, Professor of Paediatrics, Stanford University
- Holly Lung, Social Science Research Professional, Stanford University
- Gavin Gray, Curriculum Manager, CCEA
- Jane McAllister, Education Authority
- John Lyster, Head of Loughshore Education Centre
- Conal Baxter, NICHS Policy and Engagement Officer
