Sonya Karras equips Coolock students with the facts on e-cigarettes and vaping

On Monday 28 March, Years 7, 8 and 9 students attended engaging and informative sessions with Sonya Karras of Whole New World, which equipped them with the facts about e-cigarettes and vaping.

Sonya’s presentation was developed in cooperation with Catherine McAuley College and Bendigo Community Health Service and complements the work done in Years 7 – 9 Health lessons.

Sonya presented information on e-cigarettes and vaping, including what e-cigarettes are, health risks and harms associated with vaping, common myths and misinformation, and harm minimisation strategies. Sonya presented to each year level for approximately 45 minutes in the Coolock Gymnasium. Explore the links below to find out more about health risks and myths.

Sonya is the creator of Whole New World. She presents to tens of thousands of young people, parents, teachers, and organisations every year with her informative and engaging safe partying, consent, drugs, and alcohol seminar.

Sonya’s presentation aimed to equip our students with the facts about e-cigarettes and vaping. She unpacked many misconceptions relating to the physiological effects and legality of vaping and discussed what makes them attractive to young people. She also discussed the tactics used by vape manufacturers to entice young people to use them and the prevalence of nicotine in e-cigarettes, including those being marketed as nicotine-free.

Sonya’s presentation has been developed in cooperation with our College and Bendigo Community Health Service and she is very aware of our Bendigo context. The information presented by Sonya will be complemented by work done in Years 7 – 9 Health lessons and follow-up sessions with Student Advocates throughout 2022. We were very fortunate to secure her for the sessions at Coolock this week, following her recent presentation to Year 12s. A session for parents will be offered in Term 2.

Mrs Alana Burke, Social-Emotional Learning Leader and Mr Gerard Waterman, Physical Education & Health Learning Leader