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Newark Board of Education plans to introduce new security system containing AI that can detect substances, weapons, cars, people, etc. ; This has led to issues regarding privacy for staff and students as this can be accessed remotely, and would ultimately not improve the safety of staff and students. 

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Newark Board of Education plans to introduce new security system containing AI that can detect substances, weapons, cars, people, etc. ; This has led to issues regarding privacy for staff and students as this can be accessed remotely, and would ultimately not improve the safety of staff and students. 

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Due to recent events, Texas wants there to be armed guards in schools; While this may improve safety, there may be other issues that will arise. 

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Due to recent events, Texas wants there to be armed guards in schools; While this may improve safety, there may be other issues that will arise. 

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A bill that would require armed security in Texas schools passed out of the state Legislature Sunday and now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk, where it's expected to be signed into law.

The bill, which passed just days after the anniversary of last year's deadly mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, was listed as one of Abbott's legislative priorities this session.

House Bill 3 would require at least one armed officer to be present on every school campus. That includes a school district peace officer, school resource officer or commissioned peace officer, according to the bill's text.

District trustees can demonstrate "good cause" for an exemption to those options, including a lack of funding or qualified personnel. However, the district must come up with an "alternative standard" to comply, which can include arming a school marshal or any other trained school district employee or contractor.

HB 3 also requires an updated emergency preparedness plan with audits at least once every three years, a regional education service center to help develop those plans and address campus security needs for local schools, mental health training for district employees who regularly interact with students, and the development of a notification system for parents and guardians about possible violent incidents on school grounds.

The bill's sponsor, Republican state Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock, said during a March House Select Committee on Youth Health and Safety that schools need armed adults ready to act immediately in the minutes and seconds when a mass shooting can take place.

"In far too many instances, parents and students have been lulled into a false sense of security that their school, since they had security plans and measures in place, were actually checking on these measures and preparing them for them," Burrows said.

The Senate version of HB 3 initially removed language requiring an armed person at every school. The requirement was added back in when members of the House and Senate convened to reconcile differences in the two versions of the bill Saturday evening.

Districts would get $15,000 per campus to maintain school safety plans, $10 per student in average daily attendance and $1 per every $50 the district is in excess of the money it already receives in public education funding.

Critics of the bill say it doesn't go far enough in funding the new school safety requirements.
Texans are still reeling from last year's mass shooting at Robb Elementary, one of the deadliest shootings in state history. More recently, a shooting at Lamar High School in Arlington on March 20 left one student dead and another injured.

At the March hearing, experts and concerned constituents were divided on a solution.

Flo Rice testified in support of HB 3 because she said armed police officers saved her life during the mass shooting that left 10 dead at Santa Fe High School in 2018.

"I was one of the 13 who was shot and survived," said Rice, who was a substitute teacher the day of the shooting.

Rice testified in support of Senate Bill 11 in 2019, which allowed substitute teachers like her to access keys and lock doors in case of an emergency.

However, she said she believed that law did not hold districts accountable in maintaining effective active shooter response plans.

She cited the House's report, published by The Texas Tribune, on systemic failures in law enforcement's response to the Uvalde shooting. According to the report, the shooter entered the school through an exterior door that was propped open.

Carnelius Gilder also testified in support of HB 3. As superintendent of West Sabine Independent School District, a rural district with about 600 students total, Gilder said his administration struggles to fund even basic safety measures. He said outdoor fencing alone would make up a huge chunk of the district's state funding.

"I'm probably the only district in East Texas that does not receive any minerals, that is not property rich, and I'm surrounded by all of these districts that can make [safety] a priority, but they can fund the priority," Gilder said.

Others who testified said they found it hard to believe putting armed guards in schools would bolster school safety.

"My wish is that this Legislature would do more than react defensively to the rising gun violence present at our schools and instead pivot to preventing would-be shooters from having such easy access to these deadly weapons," said Robin Breed with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action.
Got a tip? Email Toluwani Osibamowo at tosibamowo@kera.org. You can follow Toluwani on Twitter @tosibamowo. KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.

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Bill requiring armed people in Texas schools heads to governor

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Texas is still reeling from the state's deadliest school shootings. Will new school safety plans prevent another tragedy?

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Supreme Court allows public funds to be used at private religious schools; basic idea is that if you fund one private school with public funds, you fund them all 

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Supreme Court allows public funds to be used at private religious schools; basic idea is that if you fund one private school with public funds, you fund them all 

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Privatization Groups Target Maine's Funding Program

Free and Open to All, Without Discrimination

The Carson decision, along with the Supreme Court's recent 6-3 ruling in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District-which opens the door to coercive prayer in public schools-represents a concerted attack on public schools as a safe haven for all students regardless of their religious beliefs.

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Supreme Court Decision Paves Way for Public Funds to Flow to Religious Schools | NEA

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The Carson decision, along with the Supreme Court's recent 6-3 ruling in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District -which opens the door to coercive prayer in public schools-represents a concerted attack on public schools as a safe haven for all students regardless of their religious beliefs.

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Oklahoma approves first religious charter school; This will lead to a major legal battle over the constitutions separation of Church and State.  

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Oklahoma approves first religious charter school; This will lead to a major legal battle over the constitutions separation of Church and State.  

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Oklahoma officials approved what could become the country's first religious charter school - breaking new ground in the conservative push to expand school choice options while also teeing up what's expected to become a protracted legal battle over the separation of church and state.

The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 on Monday to establish St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, an online school that would seem to flout the state's laws and its Constitution by sending public dollars to a religiously affiliated school. The board members, including one who refused to recuse himself after being asked to do so because he was sworn in last Friday, approved the application despite warnings from their own counsel that they would likely be sued.

"The approval of any publicly funded religious school is contrary to Oklahoma law and not in the best interest of taxpayers," Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement. "It's extremely disappointing that board members violated their oath in order to fund religious schools with our tax dollars. In doing so, these members have exposed themselves and the state to potential legal action that could be costly."

Editorial Cartoons on Education

Members of the board are appointed by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who supports religious charter schools, and the state's GOP-controlled legislature. The move is part of a larger effort underway in red states to expand publicly funded voucher programs, tax credit scholarships and education savings accounts that provide tuition assistance for children to enroll in private schools, including religious private schools.

"This is a win for religious liberty and education freedom," said Stitt, who just last month signed a new K-12 law that established a $150 million tax credit scholarship that families can use for private school or home schooling.

Charter schools, which were originally established to test innovative ways to teach and learn, are publicly funded schools run by independent boards. Roughly 8% of public school students are enrolled in charters, according to the latest federal data, and even fewer, 1%, are enrolled in virtual charter schools, which are notorious for being poor-performing.

Proponents of establishing religious charter schools argue that the process isn't different than state-run private school voucher programs that allow families to use taxpayer dollars to cover tuition at private schools, including religious schools. But critics point out that charter schools are not funded by families receiving an individual subsidy, they're funded by the state as public schools.

"The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is trying to make charter schools into something they are not," Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said in a statement. "We stand ready to support charter school advocates on the ground in Oklahoma as they fight to preserve the public nature of these unique schools and protect the religious and civil rights of the students and teachers who choose them."

Under Oklahoma's charter school law, a charter school must be "nonsectarian in its programs, policies, employment practices and all other operations," and also cannot be "affiliated with a nonpublic sectarian school or religious institution." The Oklahoma Constitution also requires the state's system of public schools to be "free from sectarian control." But the school's charter application specifically states that it will "operate the school as a Catholic School."

In addition, the law requires all charter schools to comply with federal regulations and state and local rules relating to health, safety and civil rights - meaning that a charter school cannot discriminate against students or staff based on religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy and disability by, for example, barring their admission or employment or expelling or firing them.

Yet the Catholic virtual school's application indicated that it would comply with anti-discrimination federal laws and statutes only "to the extent the teachings of the Catholic Church allow," and that it would only comply with all local, state and federal laws and regulations governing fair employment practices "that are not inconsistent with the faith or moral teaching of the Catholic Church." If those rules do run afoul of teachings of the Catholic Church, the application states that the school would claim a religious exemption.

"We must be very clear, this decision harms all public schools and students," says Robert Kim, executive director of Education Law Center, a nonprofit legal and advocacy organization.

"Charter school laws were passed based on assurances that they are public schools open to all students," he says. "Allowing a religious charter school upends the very notion of public education by endorsing a school that has signaled it does not consider itself fully bound by state or federal laws, including non-discrimination requirements, that are essential to a public education system."

The moment has been years in the making, with conservative groups eager to apply recent Supreme Court decisions about public funding of religious private schools to the charter sector. In cases decided as recently as 2017, 2020 and 2022, the justices ruled that religious schools cannot be barred from state programs that allow parents to send their children to private schools using taxpayer funded scholarships, education savings accounts or voucher programs.

Supporters say the high court's 6-3 conservative majority, including five of whom are Catholic, may play in their favor. The court is currently deciding whether to take up a North Carolina case in which it would consider whether charter schools are public or private.

But Americans United for Separation of Church and State announced that it would fight the decision in the courts, as other organizations pledged to join them.

"It's hard to think of a clearer violation of the religious freedom of Oklahoma taxpayers and public-school families than the state establishing the nation's first religious public charter school," said Americans United CEO Rachel Laser. "This is a sea change for American democracy."

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Oklahoma OKs First Religious Charter School, Teeing Up Legal War Over Separation of Church and State

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Board members approved the application for the country's first religious charter school despite warnings from their own counsel that they would likely be sued.

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U.S Department of Education awards $8million to research enhanced mental programs; researchers want to diversify school-based mental health services by adding behavioral analysis and social workers. 

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U.S Department of Education awards $8million to research enhanced mental programs; researchers want to diversify school-based mental health services by adding behavioral analysis and social workers. 

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By Tina Meketa, University Communications and Marketing

Two separate projects led by faculty in the USF College of Education and College of Behavioral and Community Sciences are being funded by a combined $8 million from the U.S. Department of Education to address mental health in Tampa Bay K-12 students.

Stacy-Ann January, associate professor in the Department of Educational and Psychological Studies, is leading efforts to enhance the capacity and effectiveness of school psychologists by helping schools adopt a framework for mental health assessments and intervention techniques. Through Project TIERS, which stands for "Targeted and Intensive Emotional and Relational Support," USF will partner with local elementary schools in greatest need of assistance.

This initiative is one of many at USF that address mental health, especially within the university community. It expands upon USF's school psychology program, in which 21 graduate students will spend the next five years working in local schools to identify students in need of support and tailor their services based on the intensity of their situation. January will then share what they learned with school psychologists across the country.

"Florida is three times above the recommended ratio for school psychologists and has just one psychologist per 1,856 students," January said. "Impoverished communities tend to have less access to mental health providers, which has been exacerbated in the last few years due to the COVID pandemic. This project can be a great resource to these communities."

Graduate student Amber Rivera is pursuing a career in school psychology. Growing up in Tampa, she said no one in her family knew that the profession existed. She hopes to raise awareness and positively impact not just the schools, but the community.

"Being Latina I know there is a common stigma surrounding mental health that is still prevalent today, Rivera said. "I want to be able to speak to my community, to provide education and change that long-term. Creating a wholesome school environment and helping families and communities receive the information needed to help these children is so significant."

In the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, several faculty members are working with the Hillsborough, Hernando and Manatee school districts to launch Project MABAS, which stands for "Mental Health Applied Behavior Analysis Social Work."

Project MABAS, also funded by a five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education, will help diversify the school-based mental health services workforce by enhancing the pipeline of behavior analysts and social workers. Forty USF graduate students from diverse backgrounds enrolled in the applied behavior analysis or social work programs will provide integrated behavioral and mental health services in high-need schools, helping improve social-emotional, behavioral, and educational outcomes.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, nearly 70 percent of public schools report seeing a dramatic increase in demand for mental health services due to traumatic events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, community violence and adverse childhood experiences. However, only about half of the schools report having the capacity to effectively provide mental health services to students in need. This has contributed to behavioral issues - which tend to hamper a student's ability to succeed in school.

"The disruptions to routines, relationships and the learning environment have led to increased stress and trauma, social isolation, and anxiety that can have both immediate and long-term adverse impacts," said Catia Cividini-Motta, principal investigator and associate director of the Applied Behavior Analysis program. "Educators and school personnel play a vital role in providing mental health and well-being support, helping advance educational opportunities by creating conditions for students to fully engage in learning."

USF students enrolled in Project MABAS and Project TIERS will receive tuition support and a stipend. In turn, they will have the training and skills needed to help thousands of children throughout their careers.

Students interested in joining Project MABAS can learn how to apply here. Enrollment will begin this summer and will continue through 2026.

Additional contributors to Project MABAS include Professors Alison Salloum, Kwang-Sun Blair and Kimberly Crosland. More information about the Applied Behavior Analysis program can be found here and the School of Social Work can be found here.

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usf college of behavioral and community sciences

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U.S. Department of Education awards USF researchers $8 million to enhance school-based mental health programs

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Two separate projects led by faculty in the USF College of Education and College of Behavioral and Community Sciences are being funded by a combined $8 million from the U.S. Department of Education to address mental health in Tampa Bay K-12 students.

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Student mental health becomes key point in 2022 Education Bills; drastic improvement in mental health programs in schools, wellness curriculum, and suicide prevention programs. 

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Student mental health becomes key point in 2022 Education Bills; drastic improvement in mental health programs in schools, wellness curriculum, and suicide prevention programs. 

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National Conference of State Legislatures

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Many aspects of a child's day, including mental wellness, impact the ability to learn. Unfortunately, K-12 students continue to report elevated levels of stress, depression and anxiety. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these diagnoses and brought more attention to student wellness. As a result, there was a steady stream of legislation addressing student mental health and wellness in 2022.

Supporting a Positive School Climate

Positive school climates create space for learning, academic achievement and student growth by fostering relationship-centered learning environments. To create positive school climates, many states have enacted multifaceted legislation that often includes aspects of student mental health. For example, to measure the supportiveness of K-12 learning environments, Colorado enacted legislation in 2022 requiring its education department to compile data on chronic absenteeism rates, in-school and out-of-school suspensions, and the number of school-related arrests. The department also must create easily accessible school district profiles related to school climate, including surveys.

Mental Health and Wellness Curricula

One of the trends NCSL has tracked involves states connecting physical and mental health through curricula. Some states require curricula to include mental health and relationship topics; others require the education department to incorporate mental health into state standards. A 2017 survey of Delaware high school students revealed the number of students who said they felt sad or hopeless, had seriously considered suicide, had planned how they would attempt suicide, or had attempted suicide. As a result, Delaware now requires its education department to establish and implement statewide student mental health education programs for K-12 students. The act also requires the department to report annually on implementation to the governor and General Assembly.

Suicide Prevention Programs and Services

As suicide continues to be a leading cause of death for youth, many states have turned to policies aimed at promoting awareness, providing intervention plans and support services, requiring professional development, and more. Many states have required student identification cards in secondary schools to include the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline number. Connecticut, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Tennessee enacted such legislation in 2022. States also allocated funding to suicide prevention and awareness efforts. Michigan provided funds to local education agencies to encourage suicide prevention education and counseling.

Absenteeism Related to Mental Health

A newer trend has been the addition of mental health to the list of valid reasons to be absent from school. Some states require a mental health professional to provide the excuse for a student, while others require guardians to explicitly state that a student is using this excuse. Kentucky requires school district attendance policies to allow absences for mental health reasons. While the law does not add extra days for absence, it makes it explicit that mental health is health.

Work Groups, Pilot Programs and Commissions

Policymakers may convene working groups to create statewide policy around suicide, mental health and discipline, or to study student behavior. An adopted resolution in Louisiana created the Student Behavior, Mental Health and Discipline Task Force to study improving certain policies and data relative to student behavior and discipline. The group's scope of study includes trauma-informed services for K-12 students, the feasibility of certain school psychologist and social worker ratios, and various aspects of student discipline, including corporal punishment and zero tolerance practices.

Professional Development

To help create safe learning environments where all students can learn, policymakers are investing in adult capacity. One strategy has been to incorporate professional development into inclusive practices for student mental health. Pennsylvania enacted legislation to provide grants to local education agencies for suicide awareness and prevention curricula; training to help school employees and students identify signs of anxiety, depression, suicide or self-harm; and best practices for seeking mental health assistance.

Staffing Ratios for Mental Health Professionals

The National Association of School Psychologists recommends providing one psychologist for every 500 students, and the American School Counselor Association recommends one counselor for every 250 students. As states consider policies around staffing ratios, many are requiring a predetermined proportion of providers to students, with the highest concentration usually at the high school level. Most of the legislation also requires reports outlining ratios, retention practices and more. Maryland enacted legislation in 2019 requiring local school systems to report their ratio of students to school psychologists, as well as strategies to reach or maintain their ratios. This type of legislation has continued in the states in recent years. In 2022, Delaware expanded legislation from 2021 to include $8 million for statewide mental health services. HB 300 calls for more mental health care professionals in middle schools to decrease the ratio of students to school therapists, psychologists and counselors. HB 301 calls for statewide implementation of educational mental health programs in each grade level, kindergarten through high school.
Autumn Rivera is a policy specialist in NCSL's Education Program.

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Student Mental Health Emerges as Focus of Education Bills in 2022

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Many aspects of a child's day, including mental wellness, impact the ability to learn. Unfortunately, K-12 students continue to report elevated levels of stress, depression and anxiety. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these diagnoses and brought more attention to student wellness. As a result, there was a steady stream of legislation addressing student mental health and wellness in 2022.

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Schools struggle to provide mental health support post-pandemic; teachers are struggling to remain at their schools due to lack of mental health resources. 

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Schools struggle to provide mental health support post-pandemic; teachers are struggling to remain at their schools due to lack of mental health resources. 

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As burned out teachers hit 'breaking point,' schools scramble for solutions

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The dire mental health conditions for staff and a wave of teacher resignations at one Brooklyn charter school prompted administrators to create a new position this year: a social worker responsible for supporting educators. The staffer tapped for the role, Marcelle Davies-Lashley, a former city education department social worker, was skeptical at first.

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U.S Department of Health to include programs for teachers in focus on mental health; increase in burnout, depression among teachers due to various post-pandemic factors. 

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U.S Department of Health to include programs for teachers in focus on mental health; increase in burnout, depression among teachers due to various post-pandemic factors. 

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In the mid-1990s, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded Hoover's organization to address the emerging issue of student mental health. In recent years, however, the center has broadened its focus to include teacher mental health.

She said one approach districts often use to address teacher well-being are programs that encourage self-care strategies - things such as better nutrition and exercise, social support and stress management.

Although this can be helpful, Hoover said those efforts alone won't fix the problem.

"Educators are increasingly vocal about the fact that they can't just 'take care of themselves' in toxic environments," she said. "We can't expect people to just do more for themselves. We have to change the structures within which they work to support their well-being."

Hoover said broader organizational changes are needed, including adequate compensation and giving teachers a bigger role in decision-making, more flexibility and autonomy, additional professional development opportunities and a greater sense of purpose.

"If you don't fix some of the basic needs like compensation, it's not going to do the trick," she said. "It's akin to saying, 'Just walk more, just eat better,' which doesn't work if people can't purchase the basics they need to keep themselves and their families afloat."

Some of these issues are especially dire in Arizona, which consistently spends less on K-12 education and teacher salaries than most states.

A May Census Bureau report found that Arizona spent $8,785 per pupil in 2020, ahead of only Utah and Idaho. And Arizona was dead last - 51st among states and the District of Columbia - when it came to the amount spent on actual instruction, at $4,801 per pupil.

Arizona's average teacher salary of $52,157 ranks 44th in the nation, according to the NEA, well below the national average of $66,432.

"Arizona's education landscape can be more aptly described as a hellscape," said Rodrigo Palacios, president of the Tempe Secondary Education Association and a member of Save Our Schools Arizona, a group advocating for increased public school funding.

Nationally, the NEA reports, the average teacher salary reflects a 1.8% increase from the previous school year, but after adjusting for inflation, pay declined by 3.8% over the past decade.

Throw in the added stress of teaching during a pandemic, and some educators have decided they're done.

A January survey by the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association showed nearly 80% of K-12 teacher positions were either vacant or filled by people who don't meet standard teaching requirements.

In addition, the report found, more than 1,600 teachers had severed employment. Most resigned. But more than 600 either didn't report to work at the start of the school year, or abandoned their job after the school year began.

'I'm tired'

For nearly 20 years, Sydney Francis taught at schools in Flagstaff before she left the field in 2018. She primarily taught art classes to elementary and middle school students, but as a mother of two children, she said that she struggled financially throughout her career.

Ultimately, she said, lack of community support and budget cuts that spurred the "Red for Ed" protests in 2018 persuaded her to quit.

"Toward the end, we took pay cut after pay cut - one to health care, one to salaries - and it was like, 'I already can't afford to live, and I'm stressed and I'm tired,'" she said. "And then on top of that, I just didn't feel supported in my community anymore."

Francis said some of the main stressors throughout her career involved being chronically short-staffed.

Instead of employing teaching assistants, schools often asked teachers to monitor recess, meaning they didn't have time to eat lunch or prepare afternoon lesson plans. Or teachers were asked to stand outside and greet students each morning, cutting into morning planning time.

In addition, Francis said that some of her students had special needs and would have benefited from the assistance of a specialized teacher, but those positions often went unfilled.

Given the pressures and her own financial struggles, Francis found it difficult to take care of her students during the day and her own kids at night.

"I felt tapped out by the time I got home," she said. "I felt like my own kids were getting a less nurturing version of me some days."

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Amid COVID, teachers face growing mental health crisis

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Navigating low salaries, pandemic worries and burnout: Many teachers will tell you this is the job description of modern educators. The result is an expanding mental health crisis among U.S. teachers - a problem so dire that many are leaving the profession.

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Despite progress in reducing tobacco use among youths, addiction rates have increased; drastic increase due to more addicted e-cigarettes. 

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Despite progress in reducing tobacco use among youths, addiction rates have increased; drastic increase due to more addicted e-cigarettes. 

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By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Nov. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Despite continued efforts by health advocates and U.S. public health officials, a huge number of middle and high school students are still using addictive tobacco products, most often vaping products.

A new study released by two federal agencies on Thursday estimated a total of 3.08 million U.S. middle and high school students using some form of tobacco product within the previous 30 days in 2022.

"Commercial tobacco product use continues to threaten the health of our nation's youth, and disparities in youth tobacco product use persist," said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, who directs the Office on Smoking and Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"By addressing the factors that lead to youth tobacco product use and helping youth to quit, we can give our nation's young people the best opportunity to live their healthiest lives," she said in a CDC news release.

In total, just over 11% of all students in middle and high school now vape or use cigars, cigarettes or some form of tobacco product, according to the new report issued jointly by the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Rates were higher at the high school level, with 16.5% of kids in that age group using a tobacco product. About 4.5% of middle school students used tobacco products.

By far the most commonly used tobacco product among all students was electronic cigarettes, for the ninth consecutive year, the researchers said. Vape products were used by 2.55 million students. Next in popularity were cigars, which 500,000 students had used, and cigarettes, which were smoked by 440,000 teens. Another 330,000 kids used smokeless tobacco, the analysis found.

The study was based on data from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey. This survey of students in grades nine through 12 was administered between Jan. 18 and May 31, 2022. The researchers behind the new study said the results can't be compared to previous years because survey methods have recently changed.

Racial disparities also were found, with American Indian or Alaska Native students having the highest percentage of any tobacco product use, at 13.5%, the team said. White students reported the highest percentage of e-cigarette use, at 11%, while Black students reported the highest percentage of use for cigars/cigarettes, at 5.7%.

Certain factors - poor performance at school, anxiety/distress and low family income - seemed to increase the risk that a teen might take up smoking or vaping, according to the study. The researchers also noted that vaping and smoking products tended to be more heavily promoted and sold in racial and ethnic minority communities.

Ongoing efforts continue to reduce youth tobacco product use, including enforcing the federal minimum age of sale of 21 years for all tobacco product types. The FDA has an ongoing action against sales of unauthorized e-cigarettes, and states and communities have restricted the sale of flavored tobacco products. Other efforts include media campaigns, education and prohibitions on where people can smoke.

Both the FDA and CDC called on parents, educators and health care providers to help in efforts to prevent youth tobacco use.

"It's clear we've made commendable progress in reducing cigarette smoking among our nation's youth. However, with an ever-changing tobacco product landscape, there's still more work to be done," Brian King, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, said in the news release. "We must continue to tackle all forms of tobacco product use among youth, including meaningfully addressing the notable disparities that continue to persist."

The study findings were published in the Nov. 11 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The American Heart Association has more about vaping.

SOURCE: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, news release, Nov. 10, 2022

Copyright © 2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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Over 3 Million U.S. School Kids Now Vaping or Smoking

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By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Nov. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Despite continued efforts by health advocates and U.S. public health officials, a huge number of middle and high school students are still using addictive tobacco products, most often vaping products.

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D.A.R.E Drug education program to undergo curriculum changes due to drug epidemic in schools; will now include information about Fentanyl. 

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D.A.R.E Drug education program to undergo curriculum changes due to drug epidemic in schools; will now include information about Fentanyl. 

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Drug education program in schools to include focus on fentanyl: ‘Just Say No was not enough’

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D.A.R.E., a drug education program for schools across America has updated its curriculum to include the dangers of harsh drugs, like fentanyl, amid the opioid crisis.