Schools receive help to enforce the law on smoke- and nicotine-free school hours
How effectively are Danish schools implementing smoke- and nicotine-free school hours? That is the central question of a new research project. The project examines both how the law is being implemented at preparatory basic education (FGU) and vocational schools, and how schools can be better supported in enforcing it in the future.
Despite the legislation, many schools struggle to enforce smoke- and nicotine-free school hours in everyday practice. Studies show that a considerable number of students – especially at FGU and vocational schools – continue to smoke or use smokeless nicotine products during the school day.
To address this, researchers from the National Institute of Public Health are launching the project Hey, We Have a Law. The project maps how the rules work in practice, what is effective, and what stands in the way of consistent implementation.
The law, which came into effect in 2021, prohibits students from smoking, vaping, or using nicotine products during school hours – both on and off school premises – at primary and lower secondary schools, boarding schools, continuation schools, and upper secondary education institutions.
“We know very little about how the law actually works in practice. That is what we want to follow up on now. We aim to find out what is working well and where the challenges are,” explains PhD student Calina Leonhardt, one of the researchers behind the project.
She points out that smokeless nicotine products are particularly difficult to regulate:
“Products such as nicotine pouches are almost invisible, meaning teachers often cannot detect when students are using them. That makes it difficult to ensure compliance with the law. This is one of the areas where we will work with schools to find possible solutions.”
Nationwide survey and interviews
The project includes a national survey of school management at FGU and vocational schools, exploring their experiences with implementing the law and the challenges they face.
In addition, the researchers will conduct in-depth interviews with teachers, students, school management and administrative staff at six selected schools. Stakeholders who were involved in the drafting and implementation of the law – such as civil servants, politicians, and organizations like Local Government Denmark (KL), the Danish Heart Foundation, and the Danish Cancer Society – will also be included.
The researchers will furthermore develop concrete strategies in close collaboration with the schools. These strategies will be tailored to the needs of each institution but also designed to be applied more broadly across FGU, vocational schools, and other youth education programs. The focus will be on both visible products such as cigarettes and e-cigarettes and less visible ones such as nicotine pouches.
Could inspire other countries
Calina Leonhardt also hopes the project’s findings will have relevance beyond Denmark:
“As a relatively new aspect of tobacco and nicotine legislation, the Danish law also covers smoke-free products such as nicotine pouches. We therefore hope that our experiences can inspire other countries considering the introduction of smoke- and nicotine-free school hours,” she says.
The project is being carried out by the National Institute of Public Health at the University of Southern Denmark and is funded by the Tryg Foundation.
Contact: PhD student Calina Leonhardt, tel.: +45 6550 1968, e-mail: cleo@sdu.dk, Senior researcher and project leader Susan Andersen, tel.: +45 6550 7816, e-mail: suan@sdu.dk, National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark