Facilitator Training Opportunity

Not On Tobacco (N-O-T) can help solve the smoking problem among teenagers in West Virginia.  Teens who smoke are at risk for developing a lifelong addiction that can cause serious health problems and cut years off their lives.  Teenagers who want to stop smoking need help, and they do not always get it.  Your assistance of implementing N-O-T into the West Virginia school system will give teens that needed support.

Our 2005 annual program evaluation (of 435 self reported surveys) indicates that 35 percent of N-O-T participants quit and 32 percent report a reduction in tobacco consumption. (Compared to other programs which only achieve a 12.63 percent quit rate). Of the surveys evaluated this year 75 percent had the added question regarding spit tobacco use14.6 percent of participants were spit tobacco users. Among spit tobacco users 41 percent quit and 12 percent reduced their use.  

Alternative to Suspension (ATS) Program

The ATS program can be offered as an option to students who face suspension for violating a school’s tobacco use policy.  It consists of four sessions that address student tobacco use, the effects of using tobacco, addiction, healthy alternatives to smoking and how to keep from smoking at school.  The program is flexible and can be adjusted to the individual school’s needs.  Unlike N-O-T, this program is mandatory and is taught in mixed-gender groups, it may serve as a motivator for teens to join the N-O-T program when they are ready to quit.

Although this program is designed solely as an educational program the desire to quit by teens is demonstrated in the surveys received over the last school year. 19 percent of participants quit and 22 percent reduced their use. When we analyzed the spit tobacco users we found that 7 percent of spit tobacco users quit and 12 percent reduced their use.

Training The Trainers

Facilitators who run the program must be skilled and sensitive so they can effectively relate to teens, listen supportively to their concerns and refer them to the extra help they may need, both in the school and in the community. Learn these facilitation skills and more at this year’s free training.