Educators call for fight against misinformation on new-age tobacco devices to protect children

A group of teachers and principals from schools across the nation have called for a fight against misinformation on new-age tobacco devices like e-cigarettes and e-hookahs to protect school-going children.

The group called “Teachers Against Vaping”, in a letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, has demanded the institutionalisation of communication programmes to raise awareness about the adverse effects of e-cigarettes in all forms and educate teachers, parents and children about the recent clarifications in law which ban manufacture, sale and even possession of these devices.

According to teachers, they are deeply concerned that international tobacco companies, driven by their pursuit of new markets, are disseminating misleading information that portrays new-age e-cigarettes as either harmless or less harmful in comparison to smoking traditional cigarettes.