Dollard-des-Ormeaux School builds community around smoking prevention program
Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
ruby@qctonline.com
Fragrant clouds of vape smoke are increasingly vanishing into thin air at Dollard-des- Ormeaux (DDO) High School in Shannon. The school is among the first English public schools in the province to partner with the Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health (QCTH) on a student- centred program aimed at discouraging students from starting to smoke or vape and helping young smokers quit.
The Smoke-Free Generation program is designed to “accompany communities, to help them comply with the law around tobacco and vaping, and make sure youth and school staff are informed of the risks,” said CQTH director Annie Papageorgiou. More than 100 schools participate across the province, including several English schools in the Eastern Townships, but DDO is the first in the region. CQTH supports schools that want to form a multidisciplinary committee, including students and teachers, to develop smoking prevention programs.
“Prevention programs work when communities and young people are involved – we’re just there in support,” she said.
DDO principal Julie Carpentier said that over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, she and her colleagues noticed – and then established through a survey – that more than one in five students at the small school were smoking or vaping daily, and as many as half were occasional smokers. Students as young as 13 were facing peer pressure to smoke or vape. Survey data also suggested that teens who wanted to quit didn’t know where to go for help or information. “We reached out for help when we saw the data, and we were lucky to get that help.”
The school contacted the CQTH through the Central Québec School Board (CQSB) in 2022 and created an action plan for addiction prevention and education, with the support of teachers, parents, the school nurse, addiction prevention organizations, the Valcartier Family Centre, local police and even local elected officials. “Working in partnership with everyone has helped us put an action plan in place, and we’re not done,” Carpentier said. The action plan includes a more visible anti-tobacco policy, lunchtime talks with speakers from the Maison Jean-Lapointe and other organizations that help people address addictions, and counselling sessions provided by the school’s community development agent. The student leadership committee has pitched in to make posters about smoking and vaping prevention.
“The leadership class is [made up of] our Secondary 5s, the oldest students in the building, and it has a positive influence on the younger kids who may now not start.”
Outside speakers are key to the program’s success, according to Carpentier. “It’s hard to reach out, because in Shannon, we don’t always have help immediately available, and there’s not always public transportation to get help. Inviting partners to the building helps increase the offer of services available.”
“Our plan is to educate our entire community and promote healthy habits … kids don’t seem to understand that vaping is hazardous,” Carpentier said.
According to Health Canada, liquids used in e-cigarettes generally contain nicotine, which can bring about addiction, and users may suffer from throat and mouth irritation, headache, coughs and nausea; the long-term effects of vaping on human health, particularly among people who start vap- ing at an early age, are poorly understood. Like secondhand smoke, secondhand aerosol from e-cigarettes can enter the lungs and bloodstreams of people nearby. In addition to the public health concerns, some once-common flavoured vaping products are now illegal in the province.