Are classroom teachers the most effective substance abuse educators?

Two years prior to a 2006 CDC&P report (2007) on school health policies and programs, nearly 82% of states and 68% of districts received staff development funding for tobacco prevention education. In elementary [ES], middle [MS] & high schools [HS], ~21% had teachers responsible for health education that received such staff development. Topics most frequently taught by teachers were similar, but differentially unequal at the threee levels, with extremely low/very low percentages for topics taught in ES/MS, respectively, compared to those taught at HS levels. Topics of Health effects/How to avoid environmental tobacco smoke were taught in only 67.7% E & 77.9% MS [health effects], and even less, 60% and 74.2%, respectively, about how to avoid ETS. This lack of curricular content is quite disconcerting, especially since the most recent Surgeon General's report [2007] linked increased morbidity and mortlity to ETS exposures. The same curricular deficit could explain results found in a study of health risk perceptions in early childhood and adolescence [Brown 2008]. Elementary students routinely identified exposure to ETS as much less risky than smoking cigarettes or using chewing tobacco. The ES lack of identification of ETS as a significant health risk was quite concerning, especially with other findings showing strong and significant correlations between ETS health risk identification & both actual tobacco use and future tobacco use intent. Another interesting finding: Teachers were identified as a source of tobacco information by only <3% of ES, and <2% of MS students!