Busy these days?
Who ISN’T busy these days?
Seems like we are all in somewhat of a catatonic state these days because we are so BUSY! Going through the motions. Able to focus only on the task at hand at the expense of other important tasks. We complete tasks for sake of completing tasks, many times without thinking about them. Automaticity of the habitual brain!
In the midst of the hubbub of our busyness, going unnoticed is the continued challenge that our schools are experiencing as they address dangerous and addictive teen nicotine use through tobacco combustibles and vaping. With so much going on in our lives right now, it is logical to have simply forgotten about it or to ignore it.
Stop. Take notice.
If you don’t have time to push your personal pause button, our RE@L Roundup Of Random, Relevant Reads will help you do so. For your enjoyment and edification, the Blogmeister has gathered for your consideration proof that teen nicotine remains a serious issue for our impressionable adolescents and, in turn, for our educators. It’s our periodic list of relevant reads: stop teen nicotine edition.
Are you a data geek? I mean really, do you like to download and sort through thousands of records and then use them to educate yourself and others about a topic? Since 2011, the Center for Disease Control has conducted the National Youth Tobacco Survey. You can download ALL of the CDC survey data from its inception to 2021 here. Big files. Lots of data. A perfect holiday gift for the person in your life who lives and dies via pivot tables.
What’s in a name? Dewberry Cream. Sounds like something I’d purchase in the dairy department at my local grocer to augment my morning coffee. But it’s not. Dewberry Cream is the most popular vaping FLAVOR for teens today. Yes. Flavored vapes are the thing today, and we know so little about them. Researchers are only beginning to determine what toxicity levels are experienced by users when these chemicals are vaped. But the work has begun. Read more about the evolution of flavored e-cig cartridges here.
We’ve all heard words of encouragement like, ‘You’ve got this,’ right? It’s the most common response from educators when we discuss with them how they address nicotine use in the school curriculum. ‘We’ve got it covered,’ we hear. But we are all trying to do what seems impossible: putting the toothpaste back into the toothpaste tube, and it’s coming out faster than we can put it in! If you don’t think so, check out this information about teens and how they are vaping at younger ages and how their addictions are becoming more intense.
Ever had your heart ‘skip a beat’? I ask this both in the figurative and in the literal sense. Figuratively, I think of those times that my heart would ‘skip a beat’ because I’m anticipating or experiencing a special event that just makes me excited. In the literal sense, I can sometimes feel my heart ‘skip a beat’ when I over exert myself. Trust me. It comes with age, I guess. But should our young people today be experiencing the literal skip of the heart beat? Read this article that suggests that vaping can trigger irregular heartbeats.
In this interesting economy, many companies are doing what they can just to hang on. A common strategy is to reduce the labor force. Most of these downsizing strategies send with them a negative vibe, but not this one. Perhaps you weren’t aware that vaping company JUUL recently announced cuts of 400 staffers as the company faces ‘unprecedented pressures’. Read about it here. A downsizing strategy that brings positive vibes is a rare and good thing in THIS case!
The efforts of our great educators everywhere are making a difference. And RE@L supports this progress with our product 1Up On Vaping™, a highly engaging, web-based, graphic arts book which inserts the student as the main character of a story about adolescents and their journey to find out more about nicotine, tobacco, vaping, and addiction. Built on national health standards, 1Up On Vaping™ is available to educators in school everywhere.
Read more about our 1Up On Vaping™ curriculum tool here.
Order 1Up On Vaping™ for your school here.
RE@L, Inc. — Your partner in Taking Down Teen Nicotine.
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Some graphic in the blog post were provided courtesy of pixy.org