This page includes basic messaging designed for use by school administrators to promote the topic of substance use, addiction and related behaviours among students, parents, and the general school community. Included are:
- Morning announcement scripts
- Newsletter inserts
- Social media messages
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Healthy Schools contact at HPEPH.
General substance use
| Morning Announcement Message | Audience |
|---|---|
| A message from Public Health – Did you know that the teen brain is still developing until about the age of 25? Since your brain is still developing, young people are at greater risk from the harmful effects of alcohol and other drugs. Early use of alcohol and other drugs can result in long term memory problems, dependence, and poor mental health. To protect your health, avoid using alcohol or other drugs until you are an adult. | Secondary students |
| Did you know that there are supports available right here at SCHOOL to help you stay healthy? Our School Health Clinic runs DAY/TIME/LOCATION. At the clinic, a trained public health nurse can provide supports to help you quit smoking or vaping, can connect you with mental health support, and can help answer your questions about relationships. Your visit is completely confidential – you don’t even need your health card! | Secondary students |
| Newsletter Inserts | Audience |
|---|---|
| Help your child avoid problematic substance use later in life It is never too early to help your child prevent or delay substance use. As your child gains independence and enters adolescence, research shows there are six effective parenting strategies that can help prevent or delay substance use in youth.
| Elementary Parents (consider repurposing for Secondary Students if applicable) |
| Teens at Greater Risk of Harms from Alcohol and Other Drugs Did you know that the teen brain is still developing until about the age of 25? And the part of the brain that powers a teen’s ability to think, plan, solve problems, make decisions and control emotions is one of the last parts to mature. Because their brains are still developing, young people are at greater risk from the harmful effects of alcohol and other drugs. To help your teen avoid these harmful effects, stay connected, keep talking with your teen, and do your best to be a good role model. For tips about how to talk with your teen, visit hpePublicHealth.ca/talking-with-kids. Watch for signs of problematic substance use:
| Secondary Parents |
| Social Media Messaging | Audience |
|---|---|
| Download an image for social media demonstrating the equivalent amount of nicotine in vapes vs. cigarettes. | Secondary parents or students |
| The amount of nicotine in some vaping products is extremely high. DYK the developing teenage brain gets addicted to nicotine faster with less exposure compared to adults? Visit NotAnExperiment.ca to learn more. | Secondary parents |
| DYK the teen brain is still developing until about the age of 25? Since your brain is still developing, your brain is at greater risk from the harmful effects of alcohol and other drugs. Early use of alcohol and other drugs can result in long term memory problems, dependence, poor mental health. To protect your health, avoid using alcohol or other drugs until you are an adult. For help, speak to a trusted adult at your school or home, call Kids Help Phone at 1-888-668-6868 or text CONNECT to 686868 | Secondary students |
Vaping and Tobacco Use
| Morning Announcement Message | Audience |
|---|---|
| A message from public health – DYK that cigarettes contain more than 7,000 chemicals? At least 70 of these are known carcinogens. That means they have been proven to cause cancer. There’s no time like the present to quit — in fact, quitting smoking is the best thing you can do to improve your life and health. Quit now, and you’ll start feeling better within 24 hours. For more information or to find support, visit breakitoff.ca, talk to your school nurse, or call the Tobacco Talk Line at 613-966-5500 x 600. | Secondary students |
| A message from Public Health – You may have heard that vaping is less harmful than smoking. More information is needed to determine if this is true. Vapes can contain more nicotine than cigarettes. Nicotine affects brain health. The effects of long term, frequent exposures to vapour are not yet fully known, but vaping is addictive. Contact your healthcare professional, or call public health at 613-966-5500 x 600 for information about quitting. | Secondary students |
| Do you vape? Do you want to quit, or have you tried to quit and found it really difficult? Help is available right here at SCHOOL. Visit our Public Health nurse at DATE and TIME, for help setting up a quit plan, as well as supports to help you succeed. | Secondary students |
| Flavour danger! Although e-liquid flavours may sound tasty, heating e-liquid actually produces a number of harmful chemicals. You wouldn’t eat an arsenic lollipop or a formaldehyde popsicle, so why would you vape them? Don’t treat your health like an experiment. Learn more at NotAnExperiment.ca. | Grade 7/8 Students |
| Think vaping is cheap? Think again. Vaping on school property could cost you $305, so save your money and don’t treat your health like an experiment. Learn more at NotAnExperiment.ca. | Secondary Students |
| Fact: If you vape, you may be more likely to start smoking. Another fact? Many vape companies are owned by the tobacco industry. Don’t treat your health like an experiment. Learn more at NotAnExperiment.ca. | Secondary Students |
| Newsletter Inserts | Audience |
|---|---|
| Vaping… is it Harmless? Over the past few years, there has been a lot of misinformation circulating that e-cigarette vaping is harmless. It isn’t. Little is known yet about the long-term health effects of inhaling the chemicals found in vape aerosol. But short-term evidence makes it clear that youth who vape risk becoming addicted to the nicotine found in most e-juices. Nicotine can alter the developing brains of teens and has been linked to concentration and memory problems. Studies are also starting to show that youth who begin vaping are more likely to become tobacco users. Under provincial law, vaping, like smoking, is banned everywhere on school property at all times. It’s important we work together at school and home to talk about vaping and encourage our kids to make healthy smoke and vape free choices. For more information, visit hpePublicHealth.ca/vaping. | Secondary parents |
| Check out the parent resource – downloadable at https://www.notanexperiment.ca/downloads/, which can be included directly in a newsletter. | Elementary and secondary parents |
| Share Health Canada’s Talking with Kids About Vaping tip sheet for parents, available at https://www.canada.ca/en/services/health/publications/healthy-living/talking-teen-vaping-tip-sheet-parents.html | Elementary and secondary parents |
| Vaping… is it Safe? Many people still think vaping is harmless. Did you know that e-cigarettes cause lung damage, similar to the damage caused by regular cigarettes? E-liquid is full of chemicals that can be addictive and harm your health. These chemicals impact your concentration, memory, and your bank account. Fun flavours and sleek designs may make vaping look appealing, but the long-term effects of vaping are still unknown. With known chemicals and harms, and unknown long-term effects…. Don’t treat your health like an experiment. Visit QUASHapp.com or see the public health nurse at your school clinic for help quitting. Support the draft newsletter content provided above with postcards & poster graphics specific to students from the Not an Experiment campaign – https://www.notanexperiment.ca/downloads/ or images from Health Canada’s Consider the Consequences campaign – https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/smoking-tobacco/vaping/awareness-resources/images.html#brain | Secondary students |
| Social Media Messaging | Audience |
|---|---|
| DYK nearly a quarter of high school students have tried vaping? Vaping is not harmless. There is growing evidence that youth who vape go on to smoke cigarettes. If you don’t vape, don’t start. If you want to quit, contact your school Public Health Nurse or talk to your healthcare provider. | Secondary students |
| Trying to #quitsmoking and want to track your progress? There’s an App for that! Download the BreakItOff App for continuous support. Visit breakitoff.ca to learn more. | Secondary students |
| DYK that at least 70 of the chemicals in cigarettes are known carcinogens? That means they have been proven to cause cancer. There’s no time like the present to quit — in fact, quitting smoking is the best thing you can do to improve your life and health. Quit smoking or vaping now, and you’ll start feeling better within 24 hours. For more information or to find support, quashapp.com, talk to your school nurse, or call 613-966-5500, ext. 600. | Secondary students |
| Postcards and posters can be downloaded and posted to social media: postcards & poster graphics specific to students from the Not an Experiment campaign – https://www.notanexperiment.ca/downloads/ | Elementary students and parents |
| Videos from the Not an Experiment campaign can be shared https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbbzYXkxKKB_nIK-MdMdoW5cUkszOQSOX | Elementary students and parents |
| Videos from the Behind the Haze campaign can be shared https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj1vwXplxS0dBvuNjyMD0Ig/featured | Secondary students |
| Postcards and posters can be downloaded and posted to social media: postcards & poster graphics specific to students from the Not an Experiment campaign – https://www.notanexperiment.ca/downloads/ | Secondary students |
| Materials from the QUASH campaign can be shared https://www.quashapp.com/downloads https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBEXUlf5sgs (quit video) | Secondary students and parents |
| DYK that SCHOOL hosts a public health clinic each DATE? School health nurses offer free, confidential, and non-judgemental services to all students. They can help you quit vaping, stay safe in relationships, find other supports, and chat about your health care needs. Drop in during clinic hours or book an appointment by scanning the QR code on posters around the school. #YouthHealthMatters #SupportingYourHealth | Secondary students |
| Do you vape? Do you want to quit, or have you tried to quit and found it really difficult? Help is available right here at SCHOOL. Visit our Public Health nurse at DATE and TIME, for help setting up a quit plan, as well as supports to help you succeed. | Secondary students |
| If vaping is one of the first things you do in the morning, you might be addicted – but you’re not alone. There are supports to help you quit/ cut down. Visit our school health clinic at DATE/TIME to chat with a public health nurse. If the school clinic is not for you, check out the Quash app, which provides free support to quit vaping, anytime – anywhere. | Secondary students |
| Vaping – What you and your friends need to know. (fact sheet from School Mental Health Ontario and CAMH) Vaping What You and Your Friends Need to Know (School Mental Health Ontario) | Secondary students |
| Fact 1: Not everyone is vaping. The reality is that most young people in Ontario don’t vape. Three out of four Ontario students in Grades 7 to 12 have not tried an e-cigarette in the past year. The vape industry is trying to make vaping appealing to young people by using cool packaging, flavours, and social media influencers.1 Don’t fall for these marketing strategies that are designed to help these companies make big profits. Make your own decision after knowing the facts. Fact 2: Vaping – with or without nicotine – is NOT harmless. The chemicals in vaping products can be bad for your health. To protect your health, the best thing to do is to avoid using any product that contains nicotine. But even if your vaping product doesn’t use nicotine, it could still cause you harm. If you are not vaping, it’s better to not start. Fact 3: Using e-cigarettes is NOT a proven strategy to help you quit smoking. The vape industry claims that vaping will help you to quit smoking, but research shows that there’s a greater risk it will lead you to start smoking tobacco cigarettes. | Secondary students |
Alcohol Use
Coming soon!
Cannabis Use
Coming soon!
