Smoke Free Class Competition

Guide to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth

SMOKE FREE CLASS COMPETITION

OVERVIEW

The Smoke Free Class Competition is a school-based smoking-prevention program for middle school students. Students involved in the program are encouraged to keep their classmates from smoking, so as to be eligible for prizes. Analyses found that the proportion of smokers increased significantly less in competition schools than in control schools during the intervention; however, the program did not have any lasting impacts. One year after the competition was over, smoking rates among students exposed to the competition were not significantly lower than smoking rates among control students.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: middle school students

The Smoke Free Class Competition is a school-based smoking-prevention program for middle school students. The program, which has been widely implemented in Europe, involves classes agreeing not to smoke for a period of several months. Students monitor one another’s smoking behavior and report it regularly to competition organizers. Classes that maintain smoking rates below 10% are eligible for prizes. The competition is generally supplemented with classroom instruction on resisting the pressure to smoke.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Crone, M. R., Reijneveld, S. A., Willemsen, M. C., van Leerdam, F. J. M., Spruijt, R. D., & Hira Sing, R. A. (2007). Prevention of smoking in adolescents with lower education: a school-based intervention study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 57, 675-680.

Evaluated population: Students from 26 lower secondary schools in the Netherlands were selected to participate in this study, resulting in a study sample of 1669 students. Students were 13 years old, on average.

Approach: Schools were ranked by size and stratified by whether they included a national drug education program as part of their school curriculum. Schools were then randomly assigned to either the treatment group or the control group. Treatment schools took part in the Smoke Free Class Competition. Related curriculum included three lessons on knowledge, attitudes, and social influence. Two additional video lessons on smoking and social influence were available to teachers at treatment schools. Control schools did not take part in the competition. Both treatment and control schools that had been implementing the national drug education program persisted in implementing this program.

Students were surveyed on their smoking behavior at baseline (October 1998), immediately after the intervention (June 1999), and one year later (June 2000).

Results: Immediately following the intervention, treatment students did not differ significantly from control students in their attitudes towards smoking or their self-efficacy to refrain from smoking. Treatment students did, however, report experiencing significantly more peer pressure not to smoke.

During the intervention, the proportion of smokers increased significantly less in treatment schools than in control schools. At the one-year follow-up, however, the proportion of students smoking in treatment schools did not significantly differ from the proportion of students smoking in control schools.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

More information available at the Smoke-Free Class Competition website:

http://www.ift-nord.de/ift/sfc/

References:

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: 11-15

Evaluated participant grades: 6^th-8^th

Program age ranges in the guide: Middle Childhood, Adolescence, Youth

Program components: School-Based

Measured outcomes: Substance Use, Physical Health

Program information last updated on 9/27/07.