Breathe California’s innovative “diversion” program from smoking and vaping cessation for minors – Smokeless School Saturday – is one of a kind in the country and was spotlighted by the California Tobacco Prevention Program in July 2023 in the article below. It was featured so that our tobacco control partners statewide can learn about the origin of the program, how it works, and how we were able to launch it again this year.
For more information about the Smokeless Saturday School program, contact sheila@lungsrus.org.
Breathe California’s Smokeless Saturday School Program:
An Alternative to Disciplinary Sanctions Related to Youth Tobacco Use
For over 100 years, Breathe California of the Bay Area, Golden Gate, and Central Coast has worked tirelessly to ensure that the regions we serve are the healthiest places to live. Throughout the history of Breathe California, our work has been groundbreaking and often setting the pace for change throughout the entire state and country. With such a long and complex history, we have had to react to changes in tobacco use trends throughout the decades, and more recently to the rise of vaping and electronic smoking device use among youth.
One of our programs that addresses this public health crisis is Smokeless Saturday School, an innovative diversion program to help minors who are cited for use of tobacco products or paraphernalia on school premises. The Smokeless Saturday School program has a rich history that began in the mid 1990s when a high school health teacher in Los Gatos, L. D. Hirschklau, developed the curriculum for the program and shared it with Margo Sidener. The program was originally offered by schools as Smokeless Schooldays. This program was developed into Smokeless Saturday School by Sidener and differed as it included a parent component and was much stricter. At that time, the consequences for tobacco use and possession on school premises involved suspension, expulsion, and referrals to the police, which meant these sanctions would be visible on the youth’s permanent record. Breathe California’s approach was to focus on educating youth on dangers and harms of tobacco use and provide them with resources for cessation, rather than penalizing youth for being prey to the tobacco industry’s tactics. The alternative to such disciplinary sanctions was Smokeless Saturday School, a 4-hour class that provided students with the tools to make healthier choices and learn how to quit using tobacco and nicotine products. Students who attended our Smokeless Saturday School did not have to pay the $200 fine issued by the justice system and wouldn’t have an infraction listed on their permanent record. Instead, they could pay $50 for the cessation program, and their record would be expunged for participating in our program.
In addition to the 4-hour student component, the program included a one-and-a-half-hour parent/guardian component that occurred simultaneously, educating them on the dangers of smoking and how to better support their children. Students were originally enrolled by giving their parents’ contact information to their probation officer, or parents could reach out to Breathe California directly. It was important to one of the program’s creators, Janet Herbst, to make Smokeless Saturday School interactive by “making everyone share something about themselves” and “drawing students out of their shells through the various activities in the program”. Additionally, the program provided complimentary pizza to help make the whole environment more welcoming and keep them inside the building, so they didn’t smoke. Sidener was amazed by how well it was working for them. This program was not like anything students had done before and its results demonstrated this. It made students confront their own decision making and how that was working for them and as a result, 75% of them took steps to stop smoking in the next three months.
Many minors who are cited for tobacco possession are at risk of becoming addicted or are already addicted at a young age, and it is essential to help them quit before a lifetime of tobacco and nicotine dependency and health problems occur. Although schools no longer send children caught vaping on campus into the criminal justice system, it is still important to educate youth on the dangers of tobacco and nicotine use to improve their overall health and wellbeing.
After many years of delivering Smokeless Saturday School to various school systems, Breathe California unfortunately lost major funding to provide this program, and so there was a brief hiatus in offering and delivering the program as an alternative to suspension and expulsion. Additionally, the rate of youth tobacco usage in the county had been greatly reduced to 1.5%. However, with the introduction of vapes to the market, this rate increased tremendously to 13% and in January of 2023, Breathe California was contacted by the administrative team at Herbert Hoover Middle School, located 2 blocks away from the Breathe California office. Administrators noticed a staggering increase in tobacco use among their students ages 10-14. Many students had multiple offenses and the school decided it was in the best interest of the students to reach out to the professionals. As a result, Breathe California restored Smokeless Saturday School and soft-launched the program at Hoover Middle School, agreeing to provide a total of 4 sessions spread throughout the months of February, March, April, and May at no cost to the students nor school.
During the 4-hour session, students explore various topics that are meant to open their eyes to the realities of engaging in tobacco use. Activities and exercises include confidentiality agreements, group discussion of smoking habits, a guest speaker sharing their testimony, education about the dangers and consequences of tobacco use and addiction, examination of the portrayal of tobacco in the media, and strategies to cope with triggering situations. The program also provides an opportunity for discussion and identification of reasons why each minor chooses to smoke, goal setting, and quit strategies. The trained facilitators help youth understand the triggers that lead to tobacco use, deal with stress, and learn about the long and short-term consequences of tobacco and nicotine use. The program empowers youth to make healthier choices and quit using tobacco and nicotine products successfully. What sets Smokeless Saturday School apart from other cessation programs is the parent component. When the program was first created, findings showed that there were many things that the parents were doing that were wrong; for example, parents who smoked felt hypocritical, so they didn’t do anything to help their kids. The program helps teach them how to talk to their kids and have important conversations about their health.
The youth who participate in the program leave with a clearer understanding of the risks associated with smoking, the reasons they smoke, and the tools they need to quit. One 13-year-old girl who recently attended the program in February 2023 said, “It helped me understand more and made me want to quit” and “stop before it is too late.” Parents and guardians were also given resources to support their kids and encourage them not to smoke. The Smokeless Saturday program is an excellent example of a diversion program that not only helps minors avoid the consequences of tobacco use, but also helps them to quit smoking. The program offers a comprehensive approach to tobacco control by educating and empowering youth to make healthier choices and quit using tobacco products successfully. Breathe California’s Smokeless Saturday School program is a valuable resource for youth, their parents/guardians, and our community.
Learn more about Breathe California’s range of tobacco control and smoking cessation programs.