Children Learning 'No Smoking'... "Apply for the Visiting Early Childhood Smoking Prevention Class"

Poster for Visiting Early Childhood Smoking Prevention Classes. [Photo by Ministry of Health and Welfare]

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Promotion Institute announced on the 1st that they will begin accepting applications from daycare centers and kindergartens to participate in the '2023 Visiting Early Childhood Smoking Hazard Prevention Class' starting from the 3rd.

Since 2015, the Ministry and the Institute have been promoting this program to instill correct awareness in young children about the harms of tobacco and the dangers of secondhand smoke, to prevent early smoking during growth, and to foster healthy lifestyle habits.

Specifically, the program includes ▲ Visiting Early Childhood Smoking Hazard Prevention Classes (on-site education) ▲ Play-type experience centers (regional traveling exhibitions) ▲ Home-linked programs with parents ▲ Development and distribution of teacher training courses and educational materials ▲ and an excellent case contest.

The Visiting Early Childhood Smoking Hazard Prevention Class involves professional instructors directly visiting daycare centers and kindergartens to educate young children to recognize the harms of smoking, learn and practice how to respond to smokers such as family members, and support smoking cessation. This year, based on the original fairy tale "Nodam Band-ya Gomawo" created for children aged 3 to 5, storytelling, physical and experiential activities will be conducted, and educational materials for home-linked activities will also be provided.

The program will be conducted in 'bus-type' and 'classroom-type' formats, and applications will be accepted until the 17th of this month. Afterwards, about 2,000 institutions nationwide will be selected to provide education starting from the 3rd of next month, beginning in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, targeting approximately 150,000 young children. Jin Young-joo, Director of the Health Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "We will continue to spare no support so that more young children can understand the harms of smoking, help their families practice smoking cessation, and develop a correct awareness of smoking."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.