Say What! online trainings are free training modules and webinars for both youth and adults. These trainings are easily accessible for your convenience, and address a variety of topics related to youth tobacco prevention and enforcement such as:
• The history and evolution of tobacco
prevention in Texas
• How to recruit and retain youth members
• How to evolve and develop youth advocacy skills
• New and emerging tobacco and nicotine products
• Creating youth-adult partnerships
Our training modules are easy to use and self-paced, which allows both youth and adult users the convenience of completion on their time.
Each topic provides an in-depth look through engaging educational videos, content, quick activities, and downloadable resources. Complete each training topic and receive a certificate of completion and exclusive Say What! gear.
MODULE TOPICS
Caught in the Nicotine Trap: Big Tobacco’s Targeted Marketing
Big Tobacco has had a long history of marketing their products, especially cigarettes, in an aggressive manner to increase sales. Tobacco companies hired marketing research firms to develop strategies that would help them target their ad campaigns to certain demographics, ages, genders, and socioeconomic backgrounds. In this training module, you’ll learn about the deceptive tactics the tobacco industry used to lie to the American people and lure Asian Americans, Black/African Americans, Native Americans/American Indians, Hispanic/Latinx, and the LGBTQ+ community into using their products. You’ll also see how e-cigarette brands like JUUL use these terrible tactics to sell their vape products today.
History of Tobacco Prevention in Texas
Take a look into the past to see how tobacco prevention efforts have evolved in Texas. Listen to experts in the field of tobacco prevention as they share their experiences combating the tobacco industry for the state and nation. Then, learn about the statewide youth movement that has been creating tobacco-free change for 20 years!
Escape the Vape
Thanks to vape companies like JUUL and Sourin who have designed their products to look like tech gadgets and taste like fruit and candy, millions of youth have become addicted to nicotine and thousands try vaping each day. In this training module, you’ll learn the risks about e-cigarettes, how the tobacco industry has spent decades creating these dangerous products and marketing them, how you can help those who are addicted to vapes quit and know the steps to take to help your friends escape the vape and create the first vape-free generation.
Don’t Wait! Advocate!
Being an advocate is all about using your voice to support a cause and empower others to take a stand against an issue. Expand your advocacy knowledge and skills through the three important levels of effective advocacy and identify a tobacco prevention topic you’d like to be an advocate for.
There are no upcoming trainings currently scheduled.
Please check back regularly.
The Say What! webinar series serves as an instructional learning tool for youth, adults, and professionals working towards the first tobacco-free and nicotine-free generation.
If you missed a webinar or would like to listen again, you can easily watch the recording below.
Youth Vaping: The Problem and the Solutions
April 2024
According to the recent National Youth Tobacco Survey, more than 2.5 million middle and high school students currently use e-cigarettes. With cheap, disposable devices skyrocketing in popularity, these numbers are at risk of increasing. The scary truth behind all the bright colors and fruity flavors are harmful chemicals and nicotine addiction. With the passage of HB 114, public schools are required to place students caught with a vape device on school grounds or at a school sanctioned event in a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP). popularity, these numbers are at risk of increasing. The scary truth behind all the bright colors and fruity flavors are harmful chemicals and nicotine addiction. With the passage of HB 114, public schools are required to place students caught with a vape device on school grounds or at a school sanctioned event in a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP).
Say What! strongly encourages schools and districts to implement prevention strategies to reduce the number of students receiving disciplinary action, educate students about the dangers of using vapes, and provide support and encouragement to those who are addicted so they have access to the resources needed to quit. This training discusses findings from the recent national survey, concerns of nicotine use and its impact on teen mental health as well as resources that are available to schools, administrators, teachers, parents, and students to help students avoid or quit vaping.
New School Year, New Law: What to do About Youth Vaping on Your Campus
August, 2023
With the passage of HB 114, public schools are required to place students caught with a vape device on school grounds or at a school sanctioned event in a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) beginning September 1, 2023. The Say What! program and the Texas School Safety Center strongly encourage schools and districts to implement prevention strategies in an effort to reduce the number of students receiving disciplinary action, educate students about the dangers of using vapes, and provide support and encouragement to those who are addicted so they have access to the resources needed to quit.
This training discussed usage rates and popular brands and devices from the 2022 National Youth Survey, outlined HB 114, and provided an overview of several free prevention, intervention, and cessation resources that are available. A featured resource of the training included Stanford University School of Medicine’s prevention and intervention toolkits and curriculums for K-12th grades. These resources are evidence-based, and are geared towards anyone who works with youth, including educators, administrators, healthcare provides, and parents/guardians.
Youth Advocacy: Sharing
your Story to Create Change
March 22, 2023
Advocating for a tobacco, nicotine, and vape-free generation is all about using your voice, and if there is a group of people who want to hear what youth have to say more than anyone else, it is our elected officials.
In this training, you will learn from the American Lung Association about our state’s legislative process, how you can be the best youth advocate possible, and how you can share your story to help save the lives of future generations from falling into the trap created by Big Tobacco.
After the training ends, you can type up your story and submit it to Say What! Then, we will share it with the American Lung Association, who will share it with your elected official.
How Youth and Adults Can Work Together to Create Change
March 29, 2022
Adults who work with youth often wonder how they can tap into their energy, passion, creativity, and commitment to activism, but what many may not understand is that it all begins with partnership. A true youth-adult partnership is one in which adults work in full collaboration with young people on issues and/or programs and policies that are affecting youth. When young people have the opportunity to make suggestions and decisions, they not only feel recognized and valued but are invested in creating sustainable change.
This webinar will not only discuss the importance of investing in youth-adult partnerships and provide tools to form successful ones, but also highlight Teen Ambassadors from the Say What! Program and Youth Council Members from the Youth Preparedness Program at the Texas School Safety Center about their successes in working with adults to create change.
E-Cigarettes & the Youth Vaping Epidemic (PAVe)
May 27, 2021
With cheap disposable vaping devices skyrocketing in popularity, about 40% of youth have tried vaping by the 10th grade. But, behind those bright colors and sweet flavors are harmful chemicals and an addiction to nicotine. Join us to hear PAVe (Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes) uncover what these devices look like, how parents can speak with their child about the dangers associated with these products, and how any adult can help a youth avoid or quit vaping.
Helping Students ASPIRE to be Tobacco and Vape-Free!
March 30, 2021
Increasing awareness about the dangers of vaping and other tobacco products is an important step in creating a tobacco-free campus and tobacco-free generation. By providing opportunities for youth to learn about these dangers and steps to quit if they have already started using, we can give teens the tools they need to live their lives tobacco, nicotine, and vape-free.
ASPIRE (A Smoking Prevention Interactive Experience) is a free online educational resource from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. This free program delivers tobacco prevention education to students in 6th – 12th grade at a self-directed pace. The program is evidenced-based and tackles the full range of traditional and emerging products such as e-cigarettes, hookah, JUUL, and synthetic marijuana. ASPIRE also aligns with TEKS standards. Curriculum features include opportunities for students to take quizzes and hear testimonials from former smokers, health care professionals, students, and cancer survivors.
This webinar, presented by the MD Anderson ASPIRE team, gives an in-depth look into the APSIRE program, an overview of the online modules, and highlights success stories from across the state and country.
Youth Tobacco Prevention: How to Encourage Everyone in School to Become Involved
May 19, 2020
Are you a teacher looking to create a youth group dedicated to encouraging their peers to live tobacco and vape-free? Are you a sponsor of a youth group looking to get involved in tobacco prevention or further their advocacy efforts? Are you a principal wanting to provide inspiration to all youth and adults on campus to work together to create a positive vape-free, tobacco-free campus norm?
Join us as the lead sponsor and a youth member from Say What! member group HTB Strikers, from Harold T. Branch Academy in Corpus Christi, shares their efforts to educate peers in their school as well as community members about the importance of living tobacco and nicotine-free. Then, listen to the Principal of Harold T. Branch Academy discuss why she encourages students to become involved in tobacco prevention and how she has seen the campus climate evolve to positively impact others in the community.
April 15, 2020
We’ll take you on a virtual tour showing you how to best utilize the Say What! website and the vast amount of free resources and materials we have to offer to further your youth tobacco prevention and advocacy projects. We’ll showcase our online trainings, downloadable presentations, handouts, guides, our members and their accomplishments across Texas, and more!
April 2, 2019
This webinar is designed for youth advocates and adult partners to ensure a tobacco-free learning environment and to assist school administrators and staff with representing a firm commitment to the health and well-being of their students.
You'll learn about a variety of strategies schools and youth groups can use to help eliminate and prevent e-cigarette and JUUL use in their school, and discover resources and materials to educate and help prevent future e-cigarette and JUUL use on campus.
February 5, 2019
This webinar was designed for youth advocates and adult partners to ensure that ALL of our voices are heard when it comes to advocating for tobacco prevention and living tobacco-free!
Viewers will learn about the basics of advocacy, how to be an advocate for youth tobacco prevention, and how to get involved. Viewers will hear about Texas Tobacco 21 and its expected impact if the age to purchase tobacco is raised from 18 to 21. Viewers will discover resources, materials, and events for youth groups to take part in to help educate the community about the importance of raising the age to purchase tobacco.
June 20, 2018
Hear from a few experts in the field of tobacco prevention and policies and their experience working with Tobacco 21. Learn what happened to the Tobacco 21 bill during last year's Texas legislative session, what's being done around the state of Texas, and how you can involve your youth to advocate for raising the minimum purchase age to 21.
April 18, 2018
Learn about fundamental talking points on vaping and find out about various e-cigarette prevention resources. Hear from tobacco prevention experts as they share their knowledge and expertise on e-cigarettes and how to best educate your youth on the harmful effects of e-cigarettes.
January 31, 2018
Interested in hearing youth and adults talk about how to better recruit, involve and empower middle school and high school students to make a difference and help people live healthy, tobacco-free lives? This webinar features stories and lessons from a youth advocate, his former high school group sponsor, an adult that works with youth at the community level, and an adult that works with youth at the state level. You'll hear them share and discuss youth-adult partnerships, activity ideas and resources, and an annual opportunity designed to make it easy to get youth involved in tobacco prevention.
Say What! EST. 2011
Phone
512.245.8082
Mailing Address
Texas School Safety Center
ATTN: Say What Program
Texas State University
601 University Drive
San Marcos, TX 78666
Say What! was created and designed by young people from across Texas and connects students interested in eliminating tobacco from their schools and communities. The Say What! movement is funded by the Texas Department of State Health Services through a contract with the Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University.
