The Broad Extension of e-cigarette Prevention in Carbon, Emery and Grand counties (BE-EPICE and Grand), is sponsoring a youth workshop that starts next Monday in Carbon County. There will also be a Parents Webinar available for Emery County residents on March 30.

Vaping among the youth in Southeastern Utah is a serious issue, in fact in a recent study it was found that 21% of students in grades 8, 10 and 12 admitted to using an e-cigarette, that number leads the state.

Jordyn Oman, Health and Wellness Coordinator for the USU Extension in Carbon and Emery Counties, is putting on an after school youth program starting on March 9 and running every Tuesday till March 30.

“We use a program called “CATCH My Breath”. It is the first and only evidence based program for E-Cigarettes, we use it for our youth groups, you have 5th & 6th grades and 7th and 8th and grades 9th through 12th are all individualized”, Oman stated.

CATCH (Coordinated Approach To Child Health) My Breath is evidence-based youth vaping prevention program. The program provides current information to teachers, parents, and health professionals to give youth the skills they need to make decisions about the use of e-cigarettes.

At the end of March they will also offer a parental workshop to citizens of Emery County.

“In the parents workshop,we will go over what e-cigarettes are, what they look like, what they can be hidden as, ingredients in them as well as harmful effects from using that evidence has found so far.” Oman also went on to add, “ We breakdown what to look for in their youth, if they’re using and how to talk to their youth about e-cigarettes.”

The parent webinar also comes with a free dinner. If you are interested in taking part in the parent webinar go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vape-prevention-parent-webinar-emery-county-tickets-133892543201. The webinar is free and you will also be able to order diner for pick-up from two different restaurants depending on your location.

The program was funded by a grant from the State Health Department. The grant includes four different components- parent webinars, youth groups, teacher training and social media outreach. The webinar on March 30 is the last one in Carbon, Emery and Grand counties. There will be a statewide webinar for parents on April 20.

If you would like more information on any of the workshops or webinars you may contact Jordyn oman at (435) 650-0514 or email at: jordyn.oman@usu.edu