Press Room
Tobacco grant aims to help curb tobacco use among Kelso High School students
A grant from the Washington State Department of Health Tobacco Prevention and Control Program will allow Kelso High School, in partnership with ESD112, to update its policies addressing tobacco use on school grounds and to educate students and staff about the changes. The purpose of the grant is to curb tobacco use among high school students by increasing awareness and enforcement of tobacco-free school policies.
Kelso High School plans to use the $21,000 grant to engage school staff in understanding the impacts of tobacco-free school policies and provide tools to assist them to intervene with students; provide violators with a supportive intervention process that helps to prevent tobacco use and addiction; increase student awareness of tobacco policies and enforcement; and decrease tobacco use on school property among current tobacco users.
Schools have proven to be particularly effective in reducing youth smoking when they consistently enforce tobacco-free school policies, teach students about the dangers of tobacco use and help those caught using tobacco to quit. Implementing strategies to help youth steer clear of tobacco can also help with their academic achievement. Students who use tobacco are more likely than non-users to report getting low grades in school. The high school cigarette smoking rate among tenth graders in Cowlitz County is 17.9 percent. That number jumps to 24.1 percent for twelfth graders. Overall, about 15 percent of high school youth smoke in Washington. Since 2000, the youth smoking rate has dropped by about 40 percent and 65,000 fewer youth smoke. Still, 45 youth start smoking every day in the state.