Creative ways to protect students from the harmful effects of tobacco

As an experienced teacher of the Chemistry - Biology Department of Nguyen Trai High School (Long Binh Ward, Dong Nai Province), Ms. Do Thi Thuy An has skillfully combined professional knowledge and practical experience to create solutions, contributing to eliminating the harmful effects of tobacco from schools.

Ms. Do Thi Thuy An with third prize in the 2025 Competition for Designing Lessons on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Tobacco, E-Cigarettes and Heated Tobacco Products for General Teachers. Photo: Cong Nghia

Recently, at the 2025 Competition on Designing Lessons on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Tobacco, Electronic Cigarettes and Heated Tobacco Products for General Teachers, organized by the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund of the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Education and Times Newspaper, Ms. Do Thi Thuy An won third prize in the competition.

Concerns about protecting students from cigarette smoke

Ms. Do Thi Thuy An shared: When she was a high school student, she understood the potential harmful effects of cigarettes on human health, even for those who did not smoke directly but inhaled cigarette smoke. When entering the pedagogical environment, having the opportunity to study and research the chemicals that create cigarettes and the human absorption mechanism, she saw more clearly the harmful effects of cigarettes, based on specific scientific foundations. This is also what made Ms. Thuy An pursue bringing both professional knowledge and practical lessons to help students stay away from cigarette smoke.

Propagating to students to stay away from cigarettes is difficult, but Ms. Do Thi Thuy An has done it with enthusiasm, responsibility and creativity. The school will continue to encourage teachers to innovate teaching and learning methods, thereby helping students to apply knowledge and understanding to solve practical problems right in the school environment, that is, a green and clean environment and say no to cigarette smoke.

Vice Principal of Nguyen Trai High School NGUYEN VAN DUYEN

From real life, Ms. Thuy An is concerned that more and more students smoke and may silently suffer from many diseases, the most frightening of which is lung cancer. Not only traditional cigarettes, but today on the market there are also many new generation cigarettes of unknown origin, which are more likely to make students curious to use such as: electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco with many different flavors. Students use these types of cigarettes not only because of addiction but also because they want to show off their own style. When one student uses cigarettes, it can lead many others to use them, causing negative impacts on their health and the community.

To create "immunity" for students to the harmful effects of tobacco, according to Ms. Do Thi Thuy An, is quite difficult, requiring the combination of propaganda and education from both the family and the school, in which the learning and living environment of students is very important. In educating students, if teachers only stop at simple lectures that "smoking is harmful to health", without showing students how tobacco is silently destroying human health, then perhaps they are not alert and brave enough to "say no to tobacco".

From thinking to practical action, Ms. Do Thi Thuy An created a playground to attract students to learn about the harmful effects of tobacco, instead of just standing and talking to them. Accordingly, she designed an extracurricular playground called "4-station challenge race" for students to participate in groups. When participating in this playground, students are connected with each other by knowledge - skills - attitudes, thereby creating solidarity, thinking spirit and effective teamwork.

Speaking more about the "4-station Challenge Race" playground, Ms. Thuy An said: In stage 1, students will answer multiple-choice questions about the harmful effects of tobacco through the knowledge library. In stage 2, which is the school newsletter, students will discuss together to distinguish between real and fake news about tobacco and the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms. In stage 3, students will have more opportunities to act out situations and practice their refusal skills when tempted to smoke. From a deep understanding of the harmful effects of tobacco, in stage 4, students will propose measures to build a safe, smoke-free learning environment.

Creative ways

To create an attractive playground on preventing and combating the harmful effects of tobacco, Ms. Thuy An spent a lot of time and effort building a library of questions about the harmful effects of tobacco for students to learn. She also spent time researching the Law on Prevention and Combating the Harmful Effects of Tobacco, thereby providing students with full legal regulations on preventing and combating the harmful effects of tobacco. Not stopping there, she created video clips to show students witnessing firsthand the terrible harmful effects of tobacco on human health.

Ms. Thuy An shared: If students were to go online and read the contents of the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms, it would not be effective because the content is quite long and difficult to remember. However, when teachers spend time studying the law carefully, then compose questions with key content, students will not only memorize quickly but also apply it easily in practice. Or when students watch video clips about the health destruction caused by tobacco, the health and economic consequences that come with it, all students will realize that what they need to do immediately is to stay away from tobacco.

Tran Van Nam, an 11th grade student at Nguyen Trai High School, shared: “I have gained quite a bit of knowledge about the harmful effects of tobacco after participating in extracurricular activities organized by Ms. Do Thi Thuy An. Now, I have enough “resistance” to say no to tobacco, to protect myself and those around me.”

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc An, Chairman of the Vietnam Education Trade Union, Deputy Head of the Final Jury of the 2025 Competition on Designing Lessons on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Tobacco, Electronic Cigarettes and Heated Tobacco Products for General Teachers, commented: “Ms. Do Thi Thuy An has systematically equipped students with knowledge about the harmful effects of tobacco, linked to practical application. More successfully, the teacher has guided students, providing solutions to build a safe, healthy, smoke-free learning environment. The more profound effect that the teacher aims for is to build a large network of propagandists about the harmful effects of tobacco, not only in schools but also in families and in society as a whole.”

Justice

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202511/sang-tao-bao-ve-hoc-sinh-khoi-tac-hai-cua-thuoc-la-b28036e/