E-cigs are still used in schools

After @SmackHighIL named LZHS “Vape Zurich” on October 30, a recent Bear Facts survey showed that 36% of students use E-cigs and vape, both on and off campus, leading school officials to say the “the amount of kids caught with E-cigs has stayed about even the past couple of years.”

The November survey of 234 students showed 36 percent of students have tried an E-cig. When the same question was asked in 2013, Bear Facts reported only 30 percent of students had tried an E-cig. This shows a slight increase in the number of students who have tried it. Moreover, only 15 percent of those who tried an E-cig owned one in 2013, whereas the recent survey said 21 percent of students now own an E-cig.

“People use E-cigs cause it’s the cool thing to do,”  an anonymous sophomore said. “They’re fun to use and don’t have the same effects as cigarettes.”

According to the survey, 95 percent of people vape for fun or peer pressure. In 2013 only 49 percent of students said they were aware of the health risks of using E-cigs, but that number has grown to 76 percent in the recent survey.

That is good news to health teachers.

“The nicotine still has the same effect on a person whether it’s in an E-cig or cigarette,” Dean Jewett, health teacher, said. “There’s also a possibility of the battery blowing up in a person’s face.”

An E-cig’s purpose is to substitute smoking tobacco products by allowing one to inhale a nicotine-based liquid that produces vaporized smoke. The Food and Drug administration, however, has not approved E-cigs as a way to quit smoking, according to Cancer.net

Most students who use E-cigs say they smoke around 2-5 times a day, while 31 percent vape 6 or more times a day, according to the survey. Even though the survey showed students smoke, it also showed a decrease in smoking on school grounds. In 2013, 58 percent of students admitted to smoking during school hours on school grounds. In 2015 only 12% of people said they vape in school or on school property.

However, there are punishments for being caught with an E-cig whether it is on or off school grounds. The consequences are located in the student handbook. 

“We’ve gone back and forth making sure the consequence is consistent with the level of offense. We don’t want tobacco or E-cigs in school,”Chad Beaver, dean, said.

If there is suspicion that a student have something prohibited on school grounds, the deans are obligated to search the student’s bag. A student has the choice to decline the dean or officer checking, but if they decline, the parents are called in to check their son or daughter’s bag.

“Some [parents] come in and are shocked about it and others come in and don’t care” Beaver said.

A student will only have to serve a one day in school suspension if they participate in the Pathways program offered at the school. Pathways, is meant to support student learning through prevention, intervention, and support.

“We treat it like a tobacco offense. It can result in a 2 day in school suspension or a one day if they participate in the tobacco education class,” Beaver said.

In addition to punishment at school, e-cigs can result in bigger problems. According to the Drug and Food Administration, E-cigs can increase users’ likelihood to use other tobacco products. The more nicotine that is put into the juice, the higher the chance of addiction is.