Youth Engagement Activities

Youth engagement activities empower young people to develop critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration skills as they promote healthy choices.

• California Health Education Standards

  Essential concepts (health facts) alone do not teach students how to use facts to make informed health decisions or how to determine whether the information is valid and reliable. A student also needs to analyze influences, communicate effectively (refusal skills & conflict resolution), make decisions, set goals, practice healthy behaviors and promote health to others. This is the shift in health education that increases health literacy and builds a lifelong health literate individual who positively affects their community.

• Project Based Learning

  Tobacco content provides students opportunities for health promotion and advocacy through Youth Development Projects and Project Based Learning (PBL).

  • Students develop deep content knowledge, critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration skills.
  • Students learn through engaging in solving real-world problems and personally meaningful projects.
  • Students demonstrate their knowledge and skills by creating a product or presentation for a real audience.

  How can you use engaging strategies to assess student learning?

  Service Learning – Students engage in hands-on learning opportunities while creating a healthier environment.

  Peer Education – Students serve as positive role models and impact​​ social norms by informing their peers and community about tobacco/vape prevention issues.

  Media Literacy – Students learn about the tobacco industry advertising techniques and co-opt them to create anti-tobacco messages​​ and publish them through multiple outlets such as posters, PSAs, and social media posts.

  Advocacy – Students work with others to advocate for positive change in their community by addressing community leaders, learning about social factors that impact health, and promoting awareness about tobacco and vape prevention policies.