Parents, Educators and Trusted Adults

Action for Healthy Kids is a national non-profit organization dedicated to helping children thrive through healthier schools and communities. By partnering with families, educators, and school districts, Action for Healthy Kids promotes substance use prevention, nutrition, physical activity, mental health and overall student well-being through evidence-based programs and resources. AFHK works to create supportive learning environments where every child has the opportunity to build healthy habits, succeed in school, and reach their full potential.

The Truth Initiative provides trusted, research-based resources to help parents, educators, and other caring adults understand youth vaping, nicotine use, and tobacco trends. Through educational tools, prevention campaigns, and quit support programs, Truth Initiative helps adults start informed conversations with young people and support healthier choices. Truth Initiative also offers practical guidance on recognizing vaping products, talking with youth about nicotine, and connecting young people to free quit resources and support programs.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids provides parents, educators, and community members with trusted information and advocacy tools to help protect youth from tobacco and nicotine addiction. The organization focuses on preventing youth vaping and smoking through education, policy, and public awareness efforts that support healthier futures for young people.

Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes, also known as PAVE, equips parents and trusted adults with resources to better understand youth vaping and nicotine use. Through educational materials, conversation guides, and prevention tools, PAVE helps families recognize vaping products, start supportive discussions, and connect youth to help when needed.

Tobacco Free Colorado offers Colorado-specific resources to help parents, educators, and communities prevent youth tobacco and nicotine use. The program provides educational campaigns, quitting resources, and tools to support healthier, tobacco-free environments for young people across the state.

IMatter Colorado connects Colorado youth with free mental health support, including therapy sessions and behavioral health resources. By helping young people access mental health care early, IMatter supports overall well-being and strengthens protective factors that can reduce the risk of substance use, including vaping and tobacco use.

Research shows that prevention education is most effective when it begins about two years before the average age of initiation. For vaping and nicotine use, the average age of first use is around 12 years old making ages 10 to 11 an important time to start the conversation.

Introducing age-appropriate education early helps young people build confidence, understand the risks of vaping and nicotine use, and develop the skills to make healthy choices before they may face peer pressure or exposure. Early prevention conversations can play a powerful role in helping youth stay tobacco-and -nicotine free. Check out the prevention resources below!

WCTEPP and Community Outreach

Stanford REACH Lab: Tobacco Prevention Toolkit

The Stanford REACH Lab Tobacco Prevention Toolkit provides free, evidence-based curricula and educational resources designed to help educators prevent youth vaping, smoking, and nicotine use. Developed in collaboration with researchers, educators, healthcare providers, and youth, the toolkit includes engaging lessons, activities, presentations, and discussion guides for elementary, middle, and high school students.

The toolkit helps educators address topics such as nicotine addiction, marketing tactics, peer influence, refusal skills, and healthy decision-making in age-appropriate and interactive ways. Resources are flexible, easy to use, and aligned with educational standards, making them a valuable tool for schools and youth-serving organizations.

Vaping: Know the Truth

Vaping: Know the Truth is a free, evidence-based digital curriculum created by Truth Initiative in partnership with EVERFI to help middle and high school students learn about the risks of vaping, nicotine addiction, and cannabis use. Through interactive lessons and real-life scenarios, the program helps students build critical thinking skills, recognize marketing tactics, and make informed, healthy decisions.

The curriculum also connects youth who already vape with free quitting resources and support, making it a valuable prevention and education tool for schools and educators.

CATCH My Breath

CATCH My Breath is a free, evidence-based vaping prevention curriculum designed for students in grades 5–12. Developed by the CATCH Global Foundation in collaboration with public health experts, the program helps students understand the risks of vaping and nicotine use while building skills to resist peer pressure and marketing influences.

Using interactive, peer-led lessons, CATCH My Breath empowers youth to make informed, healthy decisions and promotes the message that most teens do not vape. The curriculum includes flexible resources for educators, schools, and families and has been shown to reduce the likelihood of youth vaping.

As educators and trusted adults, it’s important to remember that the young person is not the problem—the problem is the problem. When it comes to teen vaping and nicotine use, the behavior is often connected to deeper challenges such as stress, peer pressure, mental health concerns, or nicotine addiction.

In school settings, our role is not only to address the behavior itself, but to help students identify the underlying reasons behind their nicotine use and support them in finding healthier solutions. By approaching youth with empathy, education, and guidance, schools can help students overcome addiction, strengthen trusted relationships between educators and youth, and reassure families that school policies are designed to support students’ long-term health, success, and well-being.

Alternatives to suspension for nicotine and tobacco use focus on education, support, and behavior change rather than punishment alone. Because nicotine addiction often begins during adolescence and can be linked to stress, peer influence, or mental health challenges, restorative and supportive approaches are often more effective in helping students make healthier choices.

Examples of alternatives to suspension may include:

• Participation in tobacco and nicotine education or cessation programs
• Brief intervention sessions with a counselor, school nurse, or trained staff member
• Restorative conversations that help students reflect on their choices and their impact
• Referral to youth-focused quit resources such as coaching or text-based cessation programs
• Parent or caregiver engagement and education
• Behavioral support plans or goal-setting activities
• Community service or health promotion projects related to wellness and prevention

These approaches aim to keep students connected to school, reduce repeat nicotine use, and support long-term health and academic success while maintaining accountability in a constructive way.

Second Chance

The Second Chance program is a free, web-based educational program designed for middle and high school students who have violated a school tobacco or vaping policy. Rather than focusing on punishment alone, Second Chance serves as a supportive alternative to suspension by helping students learn about the health risks of vaping, smoking, and nicotine use while building skills for healthier decision-making.

Through interactive, self-paced lessons, students explore topics such as nicotine addiction, peer influence, tobacco industry marketing, stress management, and strategies for reducing or quitting nicotine use. The program supports a restorative approach that keeps students engaged in school while promoting education, reflection, and long-term well-being.

Healthy Futures from Stanford REACH Lab

Healthy Futures is a free, evidence-based alternative-to-suspension program from the Stanford REACH Lab designed for students who have used tobacco, vaping, or nicotine products—or who are exploring quitting.

The Healthy Futures curriculum uses interactive, self-paced lessons and guided activities to help students understand nicotine addiction, recognize triggers such as stress and peer influence, and build practical skills for quitting or reducing use. Grounded in motivational interviewing and cognitive-behavioral strategies, the program supports reflection, goal setting, and connection to quit resources in a non-punitive, educational setting.

Healthy Futures is designed to be used in place of suspension or as an early intervention tool, helping students stay engaged in school while receiving supportive education and tools for healthier decision-making.

InDEPTH from the American Heart Association

The INDEPTH program (Intervention for Nicotine Dependence: Education, Prevention, Tobacco and Health) is a free, evidence-based alternative to suspension created by the American Heart Association in collaboration with public health partners. It is designed to support students who have violated school tobacco or vaping policies by providing education rather than punishment.

Instead of focusing on disciplinary action alone, INDEPTH helps students understand nicotine addiction, explore why they may be using tobacco or vaping products, and build skills for making healthier choices. The program is typically delivered in short, interactive sessions that encourage reflection, discussion, and goal setting around quitting or reducing use.

INDEPTH is part of a broader effort to address youth nicotine use through prevention, education, and supportive interventions that keep students engaged in school while promoting long-term health and well-being.