The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: This report describes the standard methods for evaluating and designating non-smoking campuses and summarizes Shanghai's experiences in the last six years in creating and managing non-smoking school campuses. generation.

Methods: We have established the standards for evaluating and designating non-smoking campuses in Shanghai and through investigation and survey, the non-smoking schools were evaluated. Designation of smoking-free schools with a series of interventions, such as “A Letter to a Smoking Family Member”, signing up on the recommendation of “Refusal to the first cigarette and try to be the smoking-free new generation”.

Results: The report shows that through various non-smoking activities and by raising pupils' awareness for non-smoking, the formation of non-smoking schools promoted the formation of non-smoking families, hence extending the radius of smoking-free environments to local communities as well. Between 1999 and 2005, 728 schools were designated as non-smoking campuses, representing 41 percent of all elementary and middle and high schools in Shanghai. The creation of non-smoking schools also increased the awareness for tobacco control among teachers and administrative staff. Teachers acted not only as role models for non-smoking but also integrated non-smoking into their classroom curriculum, thus effectively curtailing smoking among adolescents in Shanghai. The percentage of smoking adolescents decreased from 4.6 percent in 1999 to 2.3 percent in 2005. The report ends with an evaluation of Shanghai's non-smoking school formation programs, an exploration of long-term management policies, and an analysis of the historical effects on bringing up future non-smoking generations by creating non-smoking schools today.