Electronic cigarette use during middle school and high school has become an alarming public health concern. Educating youth about the risks of using e-cigarettes through a prevention program can be instrumental in curbing the growing numbers. Our Extension team implemented a prevention program, Escape Vapes, which adapted three Stanford University…

Background: School-based, comprehensive sexual health education is an important strategy for addressing the needs of youth in rural communities. However, few evidence-based programs have been developed specifically for or with rural youth, thus raising questions of their applicability and acceptability. Methods: From September 2021 to January…

We explored secondary school principals' knowledge of suicide prevention programs, their perceptions of the logistical and cultural barriers associated with suicide prevention program adoption, and their justification for adopting (or not adopting) suicide prevention programs in their schools. Principals, as positional leaders of schools, can lead…

Facing recent threats of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an educational strategy was designed and applied to middle school students in order to reinforce related knowledge and behaviors. A group of 65 middle school students (14-18 years old) developed several designed online curricular activities. After the intervention, students answered a…

This study examined the program effectiveness of Health Rocks!, a youth substance use prevention program. Merging data from 128,544 youth participants in 21 states between 2009 and 2021, this study compared self-reported levels of knowledge, skills, and internal and external assets before and after the program. Youth reported significant increases…

Climate change, which has become one of the most important problems of our age, has increased its impact in recent years. The aim of this study is to determine the views of students taking social studies and science courses in secondary school about global climate change, the factors that cause global climate change, and how to intervene in global…

There is a public health epidemic in adolescents' use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDSs), also known as electronic cigarettes, vaping products, or JUULs. However, little is known about the level of knowledge school staff have about ENDS. The purpose of this study is to examine outcomes of a nurse-led educational intervention designed…

Approximately 7% of children live with food allergy, a condition that requires dietary avoidance to prevent an allergic reaction. In this qualitative study, we aimed to understand food allergy-related experiences, beliefs and learning preferences among children with and without food allergies, to inform a school-based, food allergy education…

Background: Evidence-based child sexual and physical abuse prevention programs delivered in schools are needed and require rigorous evaluation of program effects prior to widespread dissemination. The Play it Safe! program is a one-time session delivered by trained facilitators to teach students about recognizing, resisting, and reporting abuse.…

A quasi-experimental study with ninth graders evaluated a 1.5-hour hate speech teaching unit in an intervention vs. control group (N = 82) before (T1) and after the intervention (T2). Participants reported frequency of witnessing hate speech (T1), hate speech norm and self-efficacy countering hate speech (T1 and T2), and knowledge concerning hate…

Objectives: In an attempt to reduce tobacco use among adolescents in the USA, some health educators have created school-based tobacco education programmes. However, none currently exist for middle and high school educators. The current study sought to determine if middle and high school educators' knowledge about combustible cigarettes and…

Electronic cigarette use has become epidemic among American youth. Little is known about the extent of use among d/Deaf and hard of hearing (d/Dhh) youth or prevention programming for this population. In a qualitative study with d/Dhh youth and school staff and administrators serving them, four focus groups were conducted with middle school…

We evaluated the effectiveness of Boston vs. Bullies, a short-term, free, bullying prevention program that uses celebrity athletes to present content. Fifth-grade students in 10 schools were randomized to either complete the Boston vs. Bullies intervention (n = 388), or to a wait-list control group (n = 266). Pre- and post-surveys assessed…

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of a child sexual abuse prevention education program using a hybrid application (CSAPE-H) by examining fifth-grade students' (a) knowledge for sexual abuse prevention and (b) self-protective behaviors against sexual abuse. A quasi-experimental, pretest /posttest design was used. Sixty-eight…

Hand washing is effective for the prevention and transmission of pathogens but washing with water only is not effective at reducing contamination. The study focussed on the evaluation of hand washing behaviour in Basic schools (Primary and Junior High Schools) in Ghana. Results of the study revealed that 75% of responding schools have hand washing…