Victorian-first as free grade 5-6 education resources launched to help students learn about youth vaping harms

In a first for the state, primary school teachers and health educators of grades 5 and 6 students will now have access to a range of Victorian curriculum-aligned vaping education resources to teach young people about the harms of vaping and help create healthy communities.  

Data from 2022-23 ASSAD survey showed 13% of 12-15 year old students reported vaping in the past month^, demonstrating the need for preventative education at a younger age.

Quit Victoria, working in partnership with Monash University, VicHealth, Victorian Department of Education, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA), Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER) Victoria and Independent Schools Victoria, developed the suite of free, evidence-based vaping education resources for Victorian schools.  

The new materials, Seeing Through the Haze, developed specifically for late primary-years students, build on the success of years 7-10 vaping education resources released in early 2024 and since downloaded thousands of times.  

Quit Director, Rachael Andersen, said the new grade 5-6 resources are designed to equip younger students with critical thinking skills as they approach early secondary school years, when vaping is more likely to be initiated, independence from parents increases and peer group pressure often ramps up.  

“Our hope is to prevent nicotine addiction in children by giving them the knowledge on why and how to say no to vaping. Beginning this type of preventative education in primary school is crucial at a time when kids are curious and starting to be more heavily influenced by social media messages. And aligning these resources to the new Victorian curriculum will allow for easy integration by teachers and health educators.   

“After successful advocacy from the public health sector, the only legal place to sell vapes is in a pharmacy, but we know there may still be vaping products available in the community. Research from Generation Vape² last year showed 12-year-olds who vape have the highest increased risk of trying smoking later on, demonstrating why we need to tackle this challenge head on,” Ms Andersen added.   

Acting Minister for Health Ingrid Stitt welcomed the free, first-of-their-kind education resources, saying children in grades 5 and 6 are at a crucial stage of learning and development. 

“Schools are rightly concerned about the impacts of vaping on the physical and mental health of their students and are keen to be part of a broader, community-wide solution,” Minister Stitt said. 

"By educating Victorian kids from an early age about the dangers of vaping, we can help them 

make healthy choices and avoid the peer pressure often experienced during secondary school." 

Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll said Quit’s partnership approach will support schools to prevent and respond to vaping by providing further day-to-day learning opportunities for students to understand the dangers. 

“We’re equipping schools with these teaching and learning resources spanning health and physical education, English, science and other subjects so that teachers, school nurses, health educators and principals have more support to address vaping right across the school curriculum.” 

VicHealth Executive Manager Health Promotion Systems, Michelle Murray said these new primary school resources will play a vital role in reducing and preventing vaping harm among young people. 

“Public health efforts to reduce tobacco use and nicotine addiction have been enormously successful but there’s always more to do with novel products like vapes looking for new ways to addict younger people. That’s why it’s so important to help young people understand the serious impacts of these products, ensuring we protect future generations from the harms caused by Big Tobacco and the vaping industry” 

Head of Prevention at Cancer Council Victoria, Craig Sinclair added the need to help students understand vaping health harms is urgent.  

“The more we can discourage young people from taking up vaping, the better their long-term health outcomes. Prevention is always better than cure and Seeing Through the Haze encourages students to think about the potential for addiction, how the vaping industry is trying to trick them into thinking these products aren’t harmful and, importantly, it empowers young students with the skills to refuse vaping when offered.”  

The resources are broken into activities across several modules to help students get the facts on vaping, to understand how social factors contribute to vaping and to develop vaping education campaigns to make change. Students are also supported to investigate cessation support services, developing important health help seeking behaviours.  

Seeing Through the Haze education resources are now freely available for years 5-6, 7-8, and 9-10, aligned to the curriculum.  

To find out more visit: vapingfacts.org.au/for-schools-and-health-educators. 

 
-ENDS- 

MEDIA CONTACT: 

Prue Gildea, Quit Media Manager 

0400 394 274 / prue.gildea@cancervic.org.au  

For support to stop vaping or smoking contact Quitline:  
Call 13 7848 Mon - Fri 8am to 8pm 
Text 'call back' to 0482 090 634 
Webchat at quit.org.au 
Message us on Facebook Messenger @quitvic 
WhatsApp 61 385 832 920 
Request a callback using the online form: Request a callback