AIBU to expect schools to teach children about vaping and smoking harms?

[badsmells]

My parents were chatting to my children and asked whether they were taught about the harms of smoking /vaping/nicotine pouches at school . They said (age 12, 14 and 15) that they hadn't had any lessons covering that topic.

According to my son in year 10 over 50% of children in his year vape.

If it was just one child I would have assumed they had snoozed through the lesson but for all three to say the topic has never been covered surprised me.

I do talk to them about it at home (not least because they are all asthmatic), but AIBU to think it helps for them to get these messages reinforced at school ?

Is there anything that isn't expected to be schools responsibility?

I think it’s covered in phse when I last looked at what that covered.

But yes vaping needs to be covered it’s absolutely ridiculous how the government have let it just replace smoking instead of being a tool for people quitting.

I guarantee that this will have been covered multiple times in PSHME lessons and/or Science. Vaping in schools is a huge issue. Parents need to be tackling this anyway from primary age.

The school day needs to be 15 hours long to cover everything that parents expect them to do - knife crime, on line safety, water safety, vaping, drugs, consent. It goes on and on.

Do parents not, you know, parent anymore?

Why would there be a "lesson" in dangers of? I am sure schools are constantly dealing with vapes in schools for children to know. What sort of lessons would you like @badsmells

Of course it gets covered at school- in science and in pshe.

Parental responsibility first and foremost though!

While I do think it should be covered as part of health education it'd probably be more effective if schools tried to present it as safe and cool - a sure turn off for most teenagers!

I think the purpose of education is primarily to prepare kids for jobs

Dangers of vaping would be parents Job (although is probably covered in PHSE to an extent)

I'm sure it's spoken about , but really it's parents responsibility and school will back that up .

I literally said I do parent mine. We discuss these things a lot

But it's weird that there's no messaging around the harms of vaping. Mine say they are told they are not allowed to vape but not that vaping is harmful

Year 8 are taught about lungs and smoking in science. Vaping is tricky to teach are there is very little data on this relatively new habit, apart from references to popcorn lungs (again, very little data). Maybe your sons weren't paying attention? Feel free to talk to them in your role as a parent.

Exactly I think the problem is vaping is somehow seen as benign.

Covered in science and PSHE.

It’s on the PSHE curriculum. I’m a PSHE lead and have taught many lessons on this. A current issue is the number of illegal vapes and those contaminated with other substances like spice

They are taught it. I have taught it to my tutor group and PSHCE group this year. When they have the lesson I get "miss we've done this loads". So either your kids are lying, not listening or haven't got a good curriculum.

We do!

There is lots of messaging about the harms of vaping

If you read the op you will see I made it quite clear that I do.

But if half their year group are vaping (and this is in a wealthy MC catchment at a high performing school) something has gone badly wrong. That's far more than the percentage of children who used to smoke when I was a teen

Is there anything that isn't expected to be schools responsibility?

This.

Vaping is banned in schools, you’d have to be an idiot not to know why. Kids vape, despite knowing the risks. It’s the parent’s responsibility to continually reinforce the dangers.

Statutory PSHE framework
pshe-association.org.uk/guidance/ks1-5/programme-of-study

Yes this is one of the things we've been discussing with them. But it hadn't been flagged at school

So it sounds like it's a failing of the PSHE curriculum at their school?

I've got an 11 and 15-year-old; it is covered throughout their education in age appropriate ways - everything you list is within National Curricula, including PHSE / RHSE . They have also had days every year on water safety , knife crime, drugs, sex and healthy relationships, and everything else the media and parents claim their children have not been educated on. Nicotine pouches too but the best education was the kid who collapsed on thier school field after too many nicotine pouches. Kids know they just think they are invincible.

Your school’s PSHE curriculum should be on the website

Where are they getting money for vapes?!

You’ll be surprised how many shops sell dodgy cheap ones, it’s a massive issue. A neighbouring school to ours had pupils hospitalised due to spiked vapes.