Vaping is taking over the world. In fact, at Central Hardin in the past two months alone, 126 referrals have been written for tobacco product use, most of which involved vaping, according to assistant principal Tessa Jaggers.

It has come to a point where posters have been put up in the bathrooms to try to get students to stop vaping in the bathroom.

“Vaping and tardies are the two biggest problems at this school,” assistant principal Dan Corley said.

According to the CHHS student handbook, “Students are not allowed to use or possess tobacco (in any form), vapor smoking devices of any type, juuls, electronic cigarettes, matches, or lighters on the Central Hardin campus or while participating in after-school activities.”

Vaping is becoming more and more popular because getting the tools to vape is easier to get than before. Before the FDA stepped in and decided to regulate vaping, even minors could get it. Vaping was everywhere and you couldn’t escape it.

“The companies market to the younger audience because they know that kids will fall for it and rush out to buy it,” principal Tim Isaacs said.

According to the CDC, “Nearly 12 of every 100 high school students (11.7%) reported in 2017 that they used electronic cigarettes in the past 30 days—an increase from 1.5% in 2011.”

That is a 10.2% difference. That may not seem like much since it’s data from high schoolers across the country that have admitted to it, and not many kids admit to vaping because they know they can get in trouble. That’s why they hotbox in the bathroom, assuming they won’t get caught.

According to the National Youth Tobacco Survey, “3.6 million middle school and high school students currently use e-cigarettes. That is 1.5 million more from last year. 78% [of them are] among high school students.”

On social media, people are constantly vaping or selling vape and the liquid for it. Driving down the road, vape shops are seen all over the place. It is easily accessible, and if you are too young to buy your own, then there is who willing to help out.

More kids are vaping now than in past years because it was originally thought to be healthier, even though the main component is a concentrated amount of the drug nicotine. There are some risky side effects that come with vaping. With the Penn State University Medical Center, Scott Gilbert has concluded that side effects include increased heart rate and blood pressure, lung disease, chronic bronchitis and insulin resistance leading to type 2 diabetes.  

Nicotine can also hinder the school experience.  

Co-leader of the Yale Tobacco Center for Regulatory Science, Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, Ph.D., tells Yale Medicine.org, “We have a lot of evidence showing that the adolescent brain is extremely sensitive to the effects of nicotine,” adding that the brain doesn’t stop growing until around age 25. “Studies have shown us that nicotine can interfere with memory and attention processing.”

When kids vape in school they are basically making it harder on themselves to get an education. The teenage mind is constantly updating and adding new information. When smoke is added to the mix, along with the drug nicotine, it doesn’t help students keep their minds focused. It makes it harder to think/learn when the mind is cloudy.

Faculty and administrators at Central are trying to stop vaping in schools. While students are here, they become the faculty’s responsibility. They have guidelines and rules that have to be maintained. Kids can’t just expect to get away with it throughout the school year.

“For tobacco, tardies, cell phones, you need a clear, consistent standard,” Isaacs commented.

The consequences for vaping are as follows:

1st Offense: One (1) day Saturday School

2nd Offense: Two (2) days AIM

3rd Offense: Three (3) days AIM

4th Offense: Possible Suspension

These are the standards the school has put into place to ensure everyone’s well being while they are here at school. Vaping happens to be one of those things that do not fit into the standards. It is in the handbook as something that should not be on school grounds. If caught, you could be dealing with one of these consequences.

In the past, cigarettes were the big fad, but because cigarettes were easy to catch people would stop using them at school. Vapes aren’t easy to catch. While cigarettes have a very distinct smell, vapes could virtually smell like anything. And they are a lot cheaper. As prices go down, more and more people are likely to buy vapes.

“Vapes haven’t been around long enough to do good research about the long-term effects,” Corley added. “There isn’t a way to tell the effects yet from the juice being heated up and what happens in the process of heating it.,”

Jaggers wants to find a curriculum that teaches the kids about the effects of vaping and what it does to the teen mind. She would like for these students to be able to engage with the material and realize how much they are harming their minds and bodies.