Pastoral Care
Cultivating Belonging
Encouraging your teen to attend and engage in school events fosters a sense of belonging and strengthens their connection to the College community. These experiences promote personal growth, social development, responsibility, and an appreciation for teamwork and shared involvement beyond the classroom.
Each day your teen attends school, they’re shaping their future success.
How to Support my Child if they are Vaping
Although advertising and peers can heavily influence your teen’s decisions, the impact you have as a parent, carries enormous weight. Research has found that parental involvement and a positive outlook can make a significant difference in healthy decision-making, both now and in the future.
Take a Health Approach
If you discover that your teen is vaping, address it as you would any other risk to your child’s health. Try to resist the urge to lecture, yell or punish your child. It is important to keep the lines of communication open and show your child that you are concerned about their health and safety.
Although purchasing vapes containing nicotine without a prescription is illegal in Australia, many vapes labelled as nicotine-free do contain nicotine. Your child may need support to stop vaping as nicotine is very addictive. The more your child vapes, the more both the brain and body will get used to having nicotine, and the harder it is to go without it. When a person stops vaping, even for a short period, they can experience withdrawal, including strong cravings, irritability, fatigue, headache, sleeplessness and difficulty concentrating.
Conversation Starters
Make sure your child recognises how much you care about them and that the conversation is coming from a place of unconditional love, support and concern for their wellbeing. Use the conversation starters below to understand if your child may be continuing to vape to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
- Do you continue to vape even though you want to stop or think it’s hurting you in some way?
- Do you feel anxious or irritable when you want to use your vape but can’t?
- Do thoughts about vaping interrupt you when you are focused on other activities?
- Do you vape at school? How often?
- Have you ever tried to stop vaping but couldn’t?
- Do you feel like you have lost control over your vaping?
Useful Resources:
Mrs Krystal Brady - Leader of Pastoral Care