‘Blind eye’ to vaping

Claims schools have been told not to suspend pupils

Principals have been directed not to suspend kids caught vaping at Gold Coast public schools, state parliament has been told.

Coomera MP Michael Crandon has made the claim after talking to several campus sources, sparking a heated response from the government.

He says students are being suspended for smoking cigarettes or using alcohol but not vaping because it will make Education Queensland’s behaviour statistics look poor.

“Let me make it clear. Principals have been told not to suspend students for using vaping products,” Mr Crandon said.

Education Minister Grace Grace strongly rejected the claim saying “that is absolutely false”.

Mr Crandon told the Education Minister he was concerned about the “turn in policy”.

Mr Crandon first wrote to then Health Minister Yvette D’Ath two years ago after Coast principals told him concerned parents did not understand the products were highly addictive.

Ms D’Ath told him she shared the concerns of principals but added that e-cigarette data was low only rising to 2.9 per cent of people aged older than 14.

Principals in response warned that the data was “outdated”. A single e-cigarette had the nicotine potency of “a full pack of cigarettes”.

“The use of the these products at school is 100 times more prevalent than the worst schools I’ve been in for cigarette smoking,” a principal wrote. “The use of e-cigarettes at student parties and social gatherings is at the point where kids that aren’t using them stand out.”

In June 2021, the principal told Mr Crandon vaping was the number one cause of suspension.

“We did around 20 last week and the local primary schools are also suspending students for vaping,” the principal said.

Mr Crandon said two existing tobacco outlets at Ormeau now had another two competitors.

“We have seen an explosion of tobacconists popping up in the northern Gold Coast, the fastest growing region in Queensland, which has the largest youth population,” he said.

Several sources confirmed Education Queensland had directed no suspensions for vaping.

“Because vaping is exploding, going through the roof. So it would blow all the (suspension and behaviour) figures out the window,” Mr Crandon said.

Ms Grace said new laws would see a crackdown on ecigarettes, vaping and illegal tobacco stores.

She asked Mr Crandon to provide evidence of where schools were not suspending students.

“The decision to suspend a student rests with the school. Our teachers and principals are professionals, and they will take into account all the individual circumstances,” she said. “They will also be guided by a student code of conduct which is developed in collaboration with the school community.

“What the department has said, and has always said, is that they do not support suspension as a first response to discipline – and that includes smoking and vaping – where another approach is available.”

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Principals have been told not to suspend students for using vaping products ...

oomera MP Michael Crandon