Curriculum for schools, sports, youth groups
Developed for elementary, middle school and high school students
About The Program
Lungs are for Life! is the vaping and smoking prevention program for students of all ages developed by the Lung Association, Manitoba.
The aim of the program is to give students information about nicotine use so they can make healthy and informed decisions about vaping or smoking.
Presentations cover as many of the topic areas as possible, depending on time and educator preference; this guide includes the following sections:
How the lungs work
Understanding vape products & cigarettes
How vaping & smoking hurt the body
How tough it can be to quit nicotine
How to handle peer pressure
Second-hand & third-hand smoke & vape emissions
How the tobacco & vaping industries target children & teens
Wrap-up game and quiz
List of online resources
The presentation is intended to be fun, interactive and can include props such as real pig lungs, vaping devices, a “tar jar,” and gross images of the effects of vaping and smoking on the body.
Students take home a pledge card for their parents/guardians that provides facts about children and second- and third-hand smoke and vape emissions.
Lungs are for Life! is just one part of a comprehensive effort that is needed to reduce nicotine use. Students learn that most people are non-vapers and non-smokers and that life is better when they are nicotine-free!
Did you know?
Smoking
Cigarette smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer.
Smoking is directly responsible for approximately 90 percent of lung cancer deaths and approximately 80-90 percent of COPD (emphysema and chronic bronchitis) deaths.
Among adults who have ever smoked, 86% started smoking before adulthood.
Among current smokers, chronic lung disease accounts for 73 percent of smoking-related conditions. Even among smokers who have quit, chronic lung disease accounts for 50 percent of smoking-related conditions.
Smoking poisons every organ in the body and is the main cause of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema). It is also a cause of coronary heart disease, stroke and a host of other cancers and diseases.
Vaping
A vape is a battery-powered device that heats a liquid called e-juice or e-liquid. Once the liquid is heated, it produces a vapour that is inhaled from the devices that are often referred to as e-cigarettes, vapes, mods, tank systems or e-hookahs.
The Lung Association and Health Canada DO NOT recommend vaping if you’re a non-smoker. Vaping can increase your exposure to some harmful substances that could negatively affect your health.
Because vaping hasn’t been around for a very long time, there aren’t many long-term studies on what the effects of vaping for a long time can do to your lungs or other parts of your body. Researchers are still evaluating the outcomes.
We do know for certain that vape liquid or e-juice often contains nicotine, and although nicotine is not known to cause cancer, it is highly addictive and can alter brain development in youth and adolescents.
If you suspect a child or pet has been exposed to e-liquid or e-juice, please contact the Manitoba Poison Centre at 1-855-776-4766 or 1-855-7POISON
Visit your nearest emergency department or contact 911 if you feel it is a life-threatening emergency.
Community Resources
Curriculum
An integral part of youth health education
The ‘Lungs are for life!” program was developed for all educators and teachers up to Grade 12. The curriculum will easily integrate into your overall student health curriculum, with no additional preparation time required on the part of the educator. The Lungs R 4 Life material is ready to present as a downloadable curriculum. All participating educators are asked to complete the feedback survey as the final step in their program participation.
Survey
Your feedback is an important part of the program participation
Why the survey? As an educator and mentor, not only does your feedback assist us in updating our program content and delivery, but it is an essential component to accessing our program funding. Without your program participation, and completion of the survey, we don’t have the full access to funding needed to deliver these essential educational services in our community, and to protect our youth.
Best of all, once you complete the survey, your class is entered into a contest to win participation prizes!