Overview of Smart Moves: Nicotine Module

SMART Moves is a suite of program resources that can be used to help youth develop healthy decision-making attitudes and skills. Each program resource reflects contemporary youth development best practices in a flexible format that allows Clubs to customize learning to the needs and interests of their youth and communities. These program resources are: SMART Moves: Emotional Wellness, SMART Moves: Core and topic-specific SMART Moves Modules.

The goal of the SMART Moves: Nicotine Module is to influence attitudes and teach essential skills to enable youth to make healthy decisions about nicotine and e-cigarettes/vapes. As a result of participating in this module, youth will be able to:

• Describe the health risks associated with using products that contain nicotine
• Describe the ways in which using products that contain nicotine can impact their goals
• Describe how media and peers influence a young person’s use of products that contain nicotine
• Apply decision-making and refusal skills to using products that contain nicotine

This SMART Moves module is intended to be used only after participants have completed the SMART Moves: Core targeted program. In SMART Moves: Core, youth are introduced to foundational healthy decision-making skills, such as goal setting, effective communication, a decision-making process, refusal skills and critical thinking about media messages. It is essential that youth are introduced to those foundational skills first so they can practice them in relation to the specific content of the Nicotine Module.

A Note About Language

The following terms are intentionally used throughout the SMART Moves: Nicotine Module sessions for the reasons outlined here:

• Nicotine – Since both traditional tobacco products and e-cigarettes/vapes contain the drug nicotine, we have used nicotine as the umbrella term that includes all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.
• E-Cigarettes/Vapes – The tobacco prevention field uses the term e-cigarettes consistently, but youth may be more familiar with the word vape. We want youth to recognize and make the association that vapes are a form of electronic cigarette.

Family and Caregiver Resources

Boys & Girls Clubs of America has created supplementary resources for use with families and caregivers. These resources are designed to create additional communication opportunities for families to talk together about the content in the SMART Moves: Nicotine Module and invite them to share their values on health and wellness. In this module, you will find a sample family night agenda and an extension activity for families and youth to do together to continue learning.

Each family and caregiver resource supports a particular SMART Moves: Nicotine Module session.

BGCA’s Vaping Prevention Resource Guide

The Vaping Prevention Resource Guide contains current information for Club professionals about e-cigarettes/vapes and vaping among youth, including strategies for talking to youth about this behavior. (Find the full URL under Links to Resources in each of the sessions.) Use this resource as a starting point to build your own knowledge before facilitating the Nicotine Module sessions.

Utilize the Program Evaluation Resources to Measure Local Impact

This program includes a suite of evaluation resources to help you measure the impact of the SMART Moves: Nicotine Module among youth in your Club or Youth Center. The survey tools measure attitudes and skills that can lead to the intended outcomes of the program. The resources include pre/post-evaluation surveys, a follow-up survey and a reflection survey. Similarly to the National Youth Outcomes Initiative Member Survey, these evaluation tools are intended to be used only for youth in Grades 3 and above.

Commonly Asked Questions for Group Discussion

This section is adapted from BGCA’s Vaping Prevention Resource Guide. The rapid rise of e-cigarettes/vapes and their wide number of products in this category has led to confusion and misinformation. Many young people think that vaping is harmless,ⁱ but the use of e-cigarettes/vapes can damage health and has been recently linked to lung illness and death. Below are some commonly asked questions from youth about vaping, along with facts to help you answer if they arise while you’re facilitating this SMART Moves module. When answering youth questions, remember to reply in ways that use the GUIDE approach:

• GU – Give recognition and thank them for asking
• I – Identify the facts
• D – Describe how a behavior might impact a youth’s future goals
• E – Explore referrals to trusted adults to provide guidance

QUESTION: Isn’t vaping healthier than smoking cigarettes?
RESPONSE: Thanks for asking that. It’s something a lot of you might be wondering! The amount of nicotine in one JUUL pod is equal to 20 cigarettes (an entire pack!). That’s a lot of potential impact to a developing brain.ⁱⁱⁱ Some believe vaping is a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes since it may be used as a smoking cessation tactic, but e-cigarette/vape users commonly use other nicotine products as well.^iv In fact, youth who vape are four times more likely to eventually start smoking traditional cigarettes.^v And vaping has now been linked to serious lung illness and death in both teens and adults.^vi Who is someone you can talk with about your questions related to vaping and your health?

QUESTION: Are e-cigarettes/vapes addictive?
RESPONSE: Thanks for asking. Many people are probably wondering the same thing. Yes, e-cigarettes/vapes contain nicotine and nicotine is addictive. Since your brain is still developing until you’re 25 years old, it’s even easier for you to become addicted to nicotine.^vii Nicotine exposure during adolescence can also lead to higher risks of learning or attention difficulties later in life.^viii How might that affect all the goals you’re working towards in school?

QUESTION: I’m only vaping the flavoring, what’s the big deal?^ix
RESPONSE: Great question. That’s an important thing to know! You may not realize it, but in addition to flavoring, the vast majority of devices contain nicotine, including all products from the most popular brand, JUUL. Additionally, the aerosol itself may contain harmful ingredients, including particles, chemicals and heavy metals such as tin and lead. Think about the ways that being addicted to nicotine might impact many of the goals you’ve shared here.

QUESTION: Everyone is doing it, so it’s not that big of a deal, right?
RESPONSE: I appreciate you asking something that many of us may be thinking, so let’s talk about it! While vaping among youth has increased significantly in recent years, the majority of youth actually do not vape. This is true across all age groups.^xi Youth with friends or family members who use e-cigarettes/vapes, or those who have been exposed to targeted marketing may be more inclined to think that most people vape. This misconception could normalize vaping, so it is important to make sure you know the real numbers. It’s important to talk with a trusted adult about your thoughts about vaping, or even share with an adult some of the things you’ve learned in this program.

QUESTION: Why is vaping a problem if it’s legal?
RESPONSE: I’m impressed that you know that vaping is not against the law! But, vaping is against the law for those under the age of 18 (and under 21 in some states). The FDA and several large stores in certain states are already taking steps to restrict sales to people under 18 and improve age verification methods.xⁱⁱⁱ Although it may seem confusing, not all products that are legal are safe to use. Nicotine and alcohol are both drugs that are legal and have known health risks. In 2019, there was an outbreak of vaping-related lung illnesses and deaths across the United States.^vi A family member you trust can be a great person to talk with if you have more questions about vaping.