A new school year often means a new environment for students and staff, which makes it even more important to address situations that could impact lung health. Follow this guidance for parents, young adults and school officials to ensure that everyone heads back to school with healthy lungs and clean air.
Getting Ready for the School Year
Caring for a child with asthma means making sure everyone in their circle — at home, at school, at work and beyond — is informed, prepared, and confident in how to support them.
How's the Air at School?
When kids are healthy and feel good, they learn more effectively. Poor indoor air quality (IAQ) is tied to things like the spread of airborne bacteria and viruses, increase in asthma or allergy triggers and symptoms, plus headaches, dizziness, cough and fatigue.
Children are more affected by air pollution due to their growing lungs, which is why school indoor air quality is an important factor during Back to School time. However, schools face unique challenges with building infrastructure, high density of occupancy and budget constraints, making indoor air quality more difficult for schools to address., The American Lung Association designed the Clean Air School Challenge to provide support, technical assistance and training to schools as they work to improve their indoor air. This program empowers schools to take steps toward healthier learning environments by developing or adopting Energy Efficient Indoor Air Quality Management Plans. Learn more about the Clean Air School Challenge, IAQ resources, or sign up your school today.
Asthma Triggers
A new school environment can introduce new challenges for kids and young adults living with asthma, such as asthma triggers and access to medications. The American Lung Association offers several programs to help parents and young adults navigate these changes, including an updated course to asses a child’s readiness to carry their own asthma medication, Asthma Super Stars- a new asthma online storybook for children, and Breathe Well Live Well® Plus , a new online version of the adult asthma education program to help people better manage their asthma so they can live more active, healthy lives.
Talk about the Dangers of Vaping
A new school year can also lead to new stressors and peer pressure situations such as vaping and other tobacco or nicotine product use, which is a significant public health concern. According to the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey, 2.25 million middle and high school students reported current use (use of one or more days during the past 30 days) of any tobacco product.
- Learn about the Lung Association’s comprehensive approach to addressing tobacco use among youth which include education, intervention and alternatives to suspension and youth cessation as well as links to our youth tobacco programs and resources.
- Learn about the Vape-Free Schools Initiative to help navigate the youth vaping epidemic and be a leader in supporting students with guidance, education and cessation.
- Talk to your child about vaping and tobacco or nicotine product use and prepare them for the school year.
Infectious Diseases and Vaccinations
Page last updated: July 17, 2025
