The Cloudy Truth: Number of students vaping continues to rise
The increasing number of students vaping in the U.S. has developed into a prominent issue that schools around the country are concerned with, including Oxford High School.
Vaping has become the new trend seen in high school students across the country. Like drinking and smoking, students have started to vape at younger ages despite the negativity many adults have around it, but it seems like students may not see this negativity.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know in the eyes of teenagers if there is a negativity around it. I think just like with any other fad that comes and goes in the world of teenagers, this seems to be the one that is risen to the top right now, “ Principal Bradley Roberson said. “The reason we’re seeing it so prevalent is because teenagers don’t think that it is dangerous. They don’t think it is harmful, and it’s to the point now where I think it is a problem.”
Vaping-relating suspensions or incidents have doubled this year from the previous years, and students caught on campus are punished according to the school’s code of conduct. Because of the large number of students who have gotten caught with vapes, the punishment may be changed in order to prevent further vaping incidents. Currently, the school’s policy is that the first offense’s punishment is at the discretion of the principal, and the second offense subjects the student to multiple days in-school suspension.
“Based on the number of incidents that we’ve had this year, I’m strongly considering raising that offense to an out-of-school suspension offense, instead of an in-school suspension offense, because we certainly want to deter any kind of behavior, such as vaping, that could be harmful to our kids on campus.” Roberson said.
Resource Officer Mario Weekly thinks that many people may not know that, like cigarettes, vapes also contain a large amount of nicotine in them, and he believes that amount of nicotine in vapes can potentially cause students to become addicted and might influence their decisions later on in life.
“Once they get of age, when they can start buying cigarettes, that’s exactly what they are going to do,” Weekly said. “They’ll forget about the vape and start smoking the cigarette. To me, vaping is way for kids to get hooked on nicotine and become a smoker as they become legal.”
Many students, like junior Emily Bone, have experienced consequences of vaping, but they can’t bring themselves to quit vaping.
“I used to live in Memphis. When I first moved here, honestly, I got one because everyone had one. Then, from there, it basically became an addiction. I would do it everyday just when I was bored, “ Bone said. “I just couldn’t stop, and I didn’t want to stop.”
Many factors, such as peer-pressure or stress, could possibly push students to vape. According to techtimes.com, teenager’s vaping habits are shaped by their family and friends, and they are more likely to vape if they have friends or family members who consider vapes, or e-cigarettes, to be acceptable and trendy.
“If you’re vaping to be a part of a social group or you’re vaping to be a part of something, to be accepted in some fashion, than maybe you should reconsider those people that are asking you to do that or to take part because there is nothing that should be socially acceptable for any group that could possibly cause any harm, to themselves or to their friends,” Roberson said. “Reevaluate your social groups, reevaluate those that you’re around, and make sure that you’re around a healthy group of people that everyone in their group has everyone’s best interest in mind.”
While students might have possession of a vape, many parents might not be aware of what their child might be doing outside of the house. Oxford High School is making sure that parents are aware of this problem through emails and other sources of communication, and so far, parents have been thankful of being notified of the problem.
“I sent an email notification to actually all parents and all students and all staff members yesterday with an article about vaping,” Roberson said. “The next step for us is to send some visual images of what vapes actually look like, so that parents can have the information and know exactly what to look for in child’s backpack or their child’s room because they’re all so different.”
According to Roberson, since vapes and the items that go along with them are so new, there haven’t been enough studies conducted to find out whether it is as harmful as cigarettes or not. Many students don’t have enough information about the harms of these items, so the school is in the process of making sure that students have the right information.
“We’re going to have to come up with an education plan as a school and as a school district to make sure that we’re educating not only our kids but our parents properly about vaping and about the dangers of vaping, “ Roberson said. “That’s something we’re in the process of doing. “
Administrators and staff want students to understand that while vaping may seem like a cool thing to do, it can cause many more problems.
“You have to be careful about anything you put in your body that wasn’t intended to go into your body, and whether that’s the nicotine, the aerosol in the vape. All of those things have chemicals in them and to realize that to some degree, that’s harmful, “ Roberson said. “Its just the fact that students have to realize that when you’re putting something in your body that’s not supposed to be there that it’s going to be harmful, and that we want our students to be safe.”