Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Expands Specialized Programs for Student Smoking Prevention and Cessation

On the 31st, World No Tobacco Day, attendees at the commemorative ceremony hosted by the Korea Anti-Smoking Movement Association at Sejongno Park in Jongno-gu, Seoul, shielded themselves from the sun with fans bearing the no-smoking logo. Every year on May 31, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated this day to create a smoke-free society in celebration of its 40th anniversary. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 20th that it will expand its student smoking prevention projects and specialized smoking cessation programs.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's '2020 Youth Health Behavior Survey,' the smoking rate among male students in Seoul was 4.2% last year, and among female students, it was 2.5%. Seoul students rank second nationwide in non-smoking rates overall, first among male students, and fifth among female students. Due to reduced school attendance days and group activities caused by COVID-19, the smoking rate among students in Seoul decreased by 2.3 percentage points from 5.7% in 2019 to 3.4% in 2020.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's School Health Promotion Institute operates student-centered smoking prevention projects to prevent an increase in smoking rates. In cooperation with the specialized smoking cessation institution, the Seoul Smoking Cessation Support Center, it focuses on smoking cessation support projects such as developing advanced courses for student smoking cessation specialized programs, operating standalone programs, and strengthening follow-up management.

Status of Student Smoking Rates in Seoul Compared to Nationwide

Prevention education related to liquid-type and heated tobacco-type electronic cigarettes will be strengthened for students, parents, and schools. Plans include actively responding to the latest trends and environmental changes through detailed analysis of measures to reduce female student smoking rates and the correlation between COVID-19 and youth smoking rates. In March, the School Health Promotion Institute also established the 'TalkToc Smoking Cessation Counseling Room,' a non-face-to-face one-on-one smoking cessation counseling program.

Starting this year, a 'Student Participation Smoking Prevention Supporters Group' will also be operated. Through a student smoking prevention and smoking cessation creative contest, smoking cessation characters suitable for students' perspectives will be solicited, and emoticons will be produced and distributed. The institute will operate a ‘School Smoking Prevention Specialist Instructor Pool’ that visits schools and promote projects such as ‘Experiential Smoking Prevention Teaching Aid Rental and Material Distribution.’

Park Sang-geun, director of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's School Health Promotion Institute, said, "We will promote sustainable school smoking prevention projects centered on students and strengthen cooperative systems with related organizations to empathize and communicate for healthy Seoul students and tobacco-free Seoul schools."

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