Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health (BBPH) will host the Fall 2022 Break Free Youth Action Summit (YAS) on Monday October 3rd, 2022, at the Bismarck Hotel in Bismarck. The event is organized and supported by BBPH and Tobacco Free North Dakota (TFND). Approximately 100 middle and high school students and their advisors are expected to attend the summit, which is offered at no cost to participants.
This year students and adults will spend the morning learning about tobacco-related laws that impact our state and the legislative process. In the afternoon, National Organization Truth Initiative will hold a workshop with students teaching them how to approach peers about quitting vaping and how they can offer support. Youth will learn skills that will strengthen the way they have conversations in their schools. The morning of the summit a legislative panel will be held to provide students with an opportunity to ask legislators questions. Throughout the day students will do hands-on activities that can later be repeated in their schools and communities.
Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health Tobacco Prevention Specialist, Jordyn Schaefbauer, says, “We are excited to host the Annual Bismarck Youth Action Summit! Youth involvement in tobacco prevention is critical and attending the summit gives students the tools they need to take action and make a positive change, both in their communities and throughout the state.”
Youth are at the center of the nation’s current vaping epidemic. Although we have seen a significant decrease in youth smoking rates over the last few years, vaping, or use of electronic cigarettes, among high school students remains high - according to the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data, current vaping among North Dakota high school students is 21.2%, which is higher than ND adult e-cigarette use rates of 17.9%.
In the weeks and months following the summit, attending students will work with their peers to create activities for The Great American Smoke Out (November 17, 2022), Take Down Tobacco: National Day of Action (April 1, 2023), and World No Tobacco Day (May 31, 2023).
For more information, please visit https://www.breathend.com/youth-action-summit/.