Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disability in the United States and cigarette smoking is implicated in 1 in 5 adult deaths, resulting in over 480,000 premature deaths per year. 1 in 10 high school students vape, and there are 2.1 million teenage e-cigarette users in 2023, with more than 1 in 4 using e-cigarettes daily.  Learn how you can talk to teens about the social media influencers who promote e-cigarettes and how critical thinking about media helps young people develop more awareness of how media messages influence beliefs, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. 

About the Presenter

Renee Hobbs is one of the nation's leading authorities on media literacy education. As a Professor of Communication at the Harrington School of Communication and Media at the University of Rhode Island, she has authored 12 books and written more than 250 scholarly and professional publications on media literacy. She is the author of The Media Straight Up!, a media literacy curriculum developed in association with Drug Free Pennsylvania and she helped co-author the Smoking Media Literacy (SML) scale used to measure program efficacy. 

About the webinar

This webinar is hosted by the New England Prevention Technology Transfer Center (HHS Region 1), a program funded through SAMHSA. Participants will receive a certificate of completion for 1 contact hour. No partial credit will be awarded.