Children in Dundee lead the way on Vaping awareness
Children are the future of Scotland and they should be healthy.
Hamza, Member of Children’s Parliament, age 13
Across two days in March, three children from Children’s Parliament’s ‘Child Human Rights Defenders’ project, Ella (aged 13), Hamza (aged 12), and Kati (aged 12), organised and led an event on the issue of vaping.
The children co-designed and delivered all aspects of the event to raise awareness, gather views, and speak directly to local stakeholders and decision-makers.
The children have been exploring the issue of vaping and it’s impact on their childhood for two years. To collate their research, we have created a summary booklet available below:
Over the past two years, Ella, Kati and Hamza, have been part of the Child Human Rights Defenders project, and during this time they’ve worked together with a group of children from across Scotland to explore the issues that are affecting the realisation of children’s rights in Scotland. The focus of the last two years has been Climate Crisis Education, Vaping and Mental Health and Bullying in Schools.
In their hopes to make national changes, Ella, Kati and Hamza have previously taken the topic to our annual Scottish Government Cabinet Meeting, speaking to top decision-makers including the First Minister, John Swinney, and to the Scottish Government Executive Team. Now, with this Dundee-based event, they wanted to shift the focus to their local community to raise awareness in the place that they live.
Taking to the streets: City Square stall
As part of their event, Ella, Kati and Hamza were keen to hear directly from the public. To achieve this, they set up a stall in Dundee’s City Square, creating space for conversations with people from across the city. With the following questions, they bravely approached passers-by to ask about their thoughts on vaping and the impact it has on children:
Should vape free zones be bigger in Dundee?
Should vapes be hidden in shops in Dundee?
Is children’s health affected by vaping?
Is children’s safety affected by vaping?
The reception from the public was overwhelmingly positive, with lots of interested adults excited to hear the children’s ideas and contribute their views.
To make sure their messages reached even more of the public, the children also worked to create three billboards across Dundee, in partnership with BUILDHOLLYWOOD Scotland, at Cowgate Underpass, Nethergate and Queen’s Hotel.
Bringing people together at Dundee Contemporary Arts
The second part of the Child Human Rights Defender’s event took place at Dundee Contemporary Arts, where the children welcomed a wide range of guests, from local councillors to NHS leads and other local stakeholders.
Ella, Kati and Hamza shared their journey as Child Human Rights Defenders and spoke about their concerns around vaping. They explained that many children see vaping as a “healthy” or “cool” alternative to smoking. The children asked their guests that more be done to protect children from vaping and raise awareness of the risks of vaping for children.
Keep Dundee vape free for children.
Members of Children’s Parliament, Dundee
A clear call to action
Kati, Ella and Hamza wanted to share their message with their local community in Dundee. They want action to be taken to reduce children’s access to vapes and improve understanding of their impact. They came up with some ideas to do this, including:
Extending smoke and vape-free zones to places where children are
Changing vape packaging, flavours and displays to make them less appealing to children
Improving education so children understand the risks of vaping in ways that work for them.
After their presentation, the children invited guests to explore these ideas in more depth through interactive stalls, each led by one of the children:
Kati’s Smoke and Vape-Free Zones stall
Sparking conversations about where vaping and smoking shouldn’t happen in Dundee, Kati emphasised that schools, parks, sports centres and places children are (like cinemas and shopping centres) were key spaces where children should be protected from vaping.
Kati set up a ‘Dundee community’ using decorated boxes to represent different buildings. She encouraged adults to write down their ideas about which buildings and spaces should be smoke-free. One guest shared their thoughts about vape-free zones in parks: “Children should be able to play outdoors, in the play park without having to breathe in vape fumes.
Ella’s Anti-Vape Shop
Challenging how vapes are currently marketed; bright colours, sweet flavours, and eye-catching displays can all make vapes appealing to children.
Ella encouraged guests to change the narrative and design bold anti-vaping posters. An example of a poster made by an attendee stated: “Fancy a vape? Great for respiratory problems, financial burden, not cool, only for fools.”
Hamza’s Graffiti Wall
Giving space for reflection on keeping Dundee’s children safe, guests shared ideas about how adults can take responsibility for this; whether that’s modelling behaviour, improving education on vaping or reducing vape litter in public spaces.
The event left a strong impression on those who attended not just on their calls to action on vaping but also about the power of children’s rights. Feedback highlighted just how powerful it is when children lead the conversation, and how their views, ideas and opinions can be used to shift perspectives and make a change.
What next?
Ella, Kati and Hamza designed this event to make real change in their local community and raise awareness of the dangers of children vaping in Dundee.
The children have shown what can be possible when children’s rights are put into practice; children’s ideas are shared, their views are heard, and hopefully meaningful action follows.
We are incredibly proud of everything they’ve achieved and can’t wait to see how the attending adults develop their ideas into achievable and meaningful actions.
