Tobacco Control Resources for Educators

Educators are of vital importance when it comes to informing students about the dangers of tobacco. These resources will help to provide educators with lesson plans, statistics, and activities to help prevent tobacco use among America's youth. These resources are more appropriate than the youth smoking prevention resources designed by tobacco companies, which have been shown to be ineffective at preventing youth smoking initiation. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
The CDC offers resources about tobacco prevention which include facts, surveys, information from the Surgeon General reports and materials from the Tobacco-Free Sports Initiative, which uses sports and professional athletes to promote tobacco-free lifestyles. 

Clinical Effort Against Secondhand Smoke Exposure (CEASE) Head Start kit 
The CEASE program offers a kit to help Head Start and other child care centers stay smoke free. The kit contains helpful items to address smoking with parents, including posters and coloring sheets for children. 

Discovery Education 
This website from Discovery Education includes a lesson plan, along with additional readings, helpful links, and vocabulary words pertinent to the issue of tobacco for students in grades 9-12. 

Head Start Policy for Tobacco-free Environments​ 
This model policy was created by the Oregon Head Start Association and the American Lung Association of Oregon to promote the health, welfare and safety of students, staff, and families in Head Start regarding tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure. The model policy is available as a model for those seeking to create their own policy on tobacco-free Head Start and other child care facilities. 

KidsHealth in the Classroom 
Created by the Nemours Foundation's Center for Children's Health Media, the KidsHealth in the Classroom: Health Problems Series has comprehensive lesson plans, including interactive student activities for a variety of grade levels. 

Lesson Planet (Account required) 
Lesson Planet is a Web site filled with lesson plans about tobacco for students in various age groups, a useful tool for teachers at any education level. Note that lesson plans on other forms of tobacco, and other tobacco-related topics are available through this site. 

Not-On-Tobacco​ 
N-O-T is a program specifically designed for teens ages 14-18 years of age that want to stop smoking, and aims to help teens stop smoking or reduce the number of cigarettes they smoke. The program can be implemented by teachers, counselors, nurses, health educators, or community leaders, when trained by the local American Lung Association office, in schools and community settings. 

PBS In the Mix 
Students in grades 7-12 are given the opportunity to create a school-wide smoking prevention campaign in this lesson plan, courtesy of PBS In the Mix. 

PBS Learning Media (Account required) 
This search return from PBS Learning Media offers a couple of options on smoking-related topics, including a lesson for students in grades 6-12 titled The Smoking Section, which discusses perspectives on smoking in public places in New York City. 

Scholastic Head's Up Lesson Plans  (Account required) 
Scholastic offers a fact sheet for students, and a pre-post quiz to gauge what students learned, as well as full lesson plan and articles for the teacher on the topic of tobacco addiction and secondhand smoke. 

Tar Wars 
From the American Academy of Family Physicians, Tar Wars provides a lesson plan, sample advertisements, and experiments and activities, as well as information in both English and Spanish. 

TeacherVision (Account required to download materials) 
This Web site provides lesson plans for teachers, links to Web-based educational activities, and facts about tobacco- including use over time and the impact on the body, as well as techniques to quit using tobacco products. 

Tobacco Control & Specific Populations 
Resources made specifically for specific population groups such as women, Native Americans, LGBTQ and others, these tools can help you better understand these diverse groups, and can also serve as a valuable resource for the population served.