Hampton Bays High School students who were selected to be part of the school’s two-year-old Peer Educator program recently participated in a four-hour training on vaping that was facilitated by representatives from the Suffolk County Department of Health Services.

As peer educators, students work with the program’s advisers, health teacher Jake Davidson and school psychologist Michelle DeBlasio, to create and conduct presentations for other students on important topics such as bullying, being an "upstander" rather than a bystander, making good behavioral choices and other character education topics. The presentations are based on a curriculum developed, researched and fully vetted by the county’s health department.

Based on what they learned in the training program, the peer educators plan to deliver their first presentation to middle school students on the subject of vaping, including facts about vaping, the physical, mental and emotional effects that vaping can have, and strategies young people can use to avoid being exposed to vaping and to handle peer pressure and other factors that might lead them to experiment.

Date Added: 10/27/2023