Speaking from a teenager experience, I can say that vaping is very common and has only gotten worse throughout the years that I've been in school. According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA),“Teens and young adults vape for many reasons, including peer pressure and wanting to fit in with friends. They may also be curious about all the different flavored vaping liquids available to them.” The main cause of teens vaping is peer pressure. For starters, peer pressure can either be internal or external pressure felt to behave in certain ways. Which can have many negative effects but can also be good dependent on how it’s used as it includes many positive effects. For example according to the Children's Health and Wellness Library some positive effects of peer pressure include:
Excel academically
Develop leadership qualities
Become a leader of a school group
Participating in extracurricular activities
Volunteer for a good cause
In addition, “Positive peer pressure can foster a sense of belonging, self confidence and a solidified sense of self.”
On the other hand some negative effects can be:
Skipping Class
Stealing
Cheating
Bullying
Using drugs or alcohol
In comparison to the positive effects “Negative peer pressure can also affect mental health. It can decrease self-confidence and lead to poor academic performance, distancing from family members and friends, or an increase in depression and anxiety. Left untreated, this could eventually lead teens to engage in self-harm or have suicidal thoughts.”
Knowing the effects of peer pressure and how powerful it is to adolescents and teens can better help parents help their child prepare for situations of negative peer pressure. Some of the tips found on Children’s Health & Wellness Library include:
Create an environment of open communication with your child from an early age. Look for opportunities to ask your child about pressure they have seen or experienced and how that made them feel. Let them know you are there to listen and help if they need it.
Share your own experiences of peer pressure as appropriate and ways you've handled them. Model healthy behaviors with your friends and family.
Teach your child how to set boundaries and be assertive in their communication. Ask them to think about what they would say in a negative situation, and practice saying no in different ways.
Establish a plan and a backup plan with your child for situations of negative peer pressure. Let them know there is nothing wrong with making an excuse if they are unsure what to do and help them brainstorm creative ways to exit an uncomfortable situation.
Make an effort to get to know your child's friends and their parents. If possible, encourage your child to invite friends over as one way to become familiar with them.
Encourage your child to seek out positive relationships and to choose friends who respect them and do not put unfair pressure on them.
Foster independence in your child and teach them to listen to their gut. Let them know that they cannot please everyone, and that is okay.
Now it is important to know the effects of vaping and what it does to a still developing teenager. According to American Lung Association it has been discovered that these toxic chemicals and metals that have been found in ALL e-cigarettes or vapes:
Nicotine – a highly addictive substance that negatively affects adolescent brain development
Propylene glycol – a common additive in food; also used to make things like antifreeze, paint solvent, and artificial smoke in fog machines
Carcinogens- chemicals known to cause cancer, including acetaldehyde and formaldehyde
Acrolein – a herbicide primarily used to kill weeds, can cause irreversible lung damage
Diacetyl – a chemical linked to a lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans aka "popcorn lung"
Heavy metals such as nickel, tin, lead
All of these toxic chemicals and products in your body cause and leave a long term effect on your still developing body. But with many addictions in life such as nicotine addiction it can all be stopped. As someone speaking from a past addiction to something it can be quite challenging to quit at first, but repetition and having a list of things to do like a routine is very important. Some things that I recommend is to set a quit date, change your environment, distract yourself, review your past attempts at quitting and discover you fell back into old habits. and find a support group or network. All of these things are things that I did that seemed to help me quit my addiction to something in the past. For more information or more sources on how to quit you can always call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Works Cited
American Lung Association. “What’s in an E-Cigarette? | American Lung Association.” Lung.org, American Lung Association, 31 May 2023, www.lung.org/quit-smoking/e-cigarettes-vaping/whats-in-an-e-cigarette.
Anzilotti, Amy. “Vaping: What You Need to Know (for Teens) - Nemours KidsHealth.” Kidshealth.org, July 2022, kidshealth.org/en/teens/e-cigarettes.html.
Children's Health. “Teens and Peer Pressure - Children’s Health.” Childrens.com, 2020, www.childrens.com/health-wellness/helping-teens-deal-with-peer-pressure.
Martinelli, Katherine. “Teen Vaping: What You Need to Know.” Child Mind Institute, 6 Nov. 2023, childmind.org/article/teen-vaping-what-you-need-to-know/.
Thomas, Jennifer . “Why Do So Many Teens Vape?” Rally Health, 24 Apr. 2020, www.rallyhealth.com/quit-smoking/why-do-so-many-teens-vape.
The essay was written because of things that were exposed to me during College Readiness, which is the class that I have right before English. In College Readiness we had a talk about vaping and how it affected teens all around the world. Since I came in right after the discussion I had in College Readiness, the topic was still fresh on my mind, making it easy for me to start getting my thoughts together for the essay. Within my essay I present the main issue, explain the cause of it, the effect, and a solution to the problem. The thing that helped me most structure my essay and organize my thoughts was to make an outline before writing anything into an essay format, writing down all of my thoughts and then later connecting them together. With this piece I am exploring the dangers of vaping and even how to stop it. While writing this piece the TED talk that most influenced me was by “Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin: “What you should know about vaping.” This was kind of an introduction to vaping to me and helped me with my TED talk. I have seen vaping first hand and want to try to help male or female, kid or adult quit vaping as I have seen the dangers and side effects of it.