If you have ever been on the bus or in the bathrooms at BHS, chances are you have witnessed someone using a Juul. It is undeniable that a large proportion of the student population has used one or is using one. BHS has consequences in place for these students that at first seem reasonable. It makes sense to punish students that do not follow the rules of the school. But with closer examination, it becomes apparent that the current rules are unjust towards the students.

The school implements disciplinary action in hopes that it will limit the use and spread of Juuling among students. Based off of the amount of students that use one, this has not worked. For too long the school has attempted to simply punish students to improve the problem. This has proved inefficient and should be replaced with a system which instead helps students to stop. Punishment is useless if it produces no change.

Nicotine is an addictive substance which is found in Juul pods. Students using the device may not be able to stop on their own without help. BHS neglects to implement any system whatsoever that would prove to assist students addicted to Juuling. The school should be looking out for the best interest of its students, and to not provide any assistance to students that may be addicted is immoral.

As nicotine is addictive, the continual punishment of students that may be addicted to it is unjustifiable. Instead of having a system solely based on punishment, BHS should have a system which combines discipline and rehabilitation for students that have an addiction. For the first few offenses, no rehabilitation should be necessary and the school should be allowed to punish students as it sees fit. For consecutive abuses however, BHS should begin to give mandatory after school classes covering the dangers of addiction and how to stop to offenders.

The current system is unfair, immoral, and inefficient. If BHS wants to lower the amount of students that Juul, the best way is not indirect punishment in the hopes that it will convince students it is a bad habit. The best way is to oblige repeat offenders to get helped by the school to overcome their habit. This system does not only have to work with Juuling. It could work with any type of addiction that a student has which BHS deems negative. At the very least, the school needs to reconsider the idea that the best way to stop an addiction is to punish students for it.