Opening doors : identifying factors that influence students’ use of pastoral care and school-based health services related to tobacco and other harmful drug use
Despite all the health warnings and risks associated with tobacco use, adolescentscontinue to smoke. In 2008, just under five percent of Australian students aged 12 to17 years indicated they had smoked a cigarette in the past week (Griffiths, Kalic, &Gunnell, 2009b). These figures are the lowest since the national student surveycommenced in 1984 and suggest positive progress in the area of youth tobacco control.However, each year a new generation of school students will experiment with smoking,increasing their chance of initiation (Warner, Jacobson, & Kaufman, 2003). It istherefore vital to develop alternative strategies to continue to reduce the level ofsmoking among adolescents, especially as many adolescents who smoke express aninterest in quitting (Plano Clark et al., 2002). As students spend a large portion of their day in the school environment (Darling,Reeder, Williams, & McGee, 2006), schools have the potential to influence their socialbehaviours, including their smoking-related behaviours (Youngblade et al., 2007).Research has indicated that connectedness to school can influence pro-socialbehaviours in students by further increasing the bond between student and staff(McNeely & Falci, 2004), which has also been associated with reducing the likelihoodof an adolescent initiating smoking (Resnick, Harris, & Blum, 1993). School-based health/pastoral care services staff seem ideally placed to support studentsto build resiliency, and therefore help them to overcome risks and empower them tomake informed health decisions (Hearn, Campbell-Pope, House, & Cross, 2006;Thomas, Hall, Adair, & Bruce, 2008). However, previous research with WesternAustralian secondary students found that, contrary to expectations, they would notnecessarily approach the school nurse(s) to discuss smoking cessation or other drug useproblems (Bond, 2009). Students indicated they would be more likely to talk andengage with school staff who they found approachable and trusted.
Teenagers, Tobacco use, Western Australia, School health services, Student Counseling and Personnel Services, Substance Abuse and Addiction
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia