Representatives from ERST Student Councils across the country met on Zoom calls and decided on the theme of UNITY for their initiative going forward.
The Student Council co-ordinators met on Zoom meetings and decided on a joint project on Vaping.
The first step was to bring the student councils together to agree the focus of the project and strategies.
St Mary’s CBS was assigned to play host to a cluster group including Mount Sion CBS Waterford, CBS Wexford and Mullingar CBS.
On Wednesday December 6th , 3 of the 4 schools met in St. Mary’s CBS.
The day began with an Address and Q and A session with Sean Flemming TD. As the other schools had not arrived yet, our Green Schools Committee were invited to attend with the Student Council. Minister Flemming explained the new legislation on vaping which was due to be enacted in the new year. This legislation covers issues of marketing vapes etc but the core aspect makes the sale of vapes to under 18’s illegal. While the students welcomed this move, they expressed many concerns, including the fact that disposable vapes were not being banned outright.
Once the remaining schools arrived, they were greeted with refreshments and then were put straight to work, reviewing surveys conducted in each school on vaping practices and awareness. The students were also presented with a power point on the new law and anti-vaping campaigns already in existence.
The students were then divided into groups where they discussed 5 areas -
The Law
Awareness Campaigns
The Role of Social Media
Physical Dangers and
Strategies (going forward).
In a final plenary session, the students presented the concerns and ideas of their respective groups to the main body of students who then voted on what would be their main focus and strategies for the next stage of the project.
Joe Fahy from Community Policing also spoke to all students on the matter.
The Chairmen of the 3 Student Councils have since arranged a Zoom meeting to review the issues that arose and finalise a plan which they will present to their respective councils. We look forward to hearing about this.
Fantastic work by all, watch this space! #fromeachtheirbest #ERST #erstcommunity