GROUPS SEEK TO EXTINGUISH VAPING
Nonprofits seek to get parents involved
By Mike McConnell mmcconnell@medianewsgroup.com
The good news is that fewer high school students report vaping nicotine in e-cigarettes in a recent national government survey.
The bad news:10 percent of middle and high school students reported some form of tobacco product use, with e-cigarettes being the most popular, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Use of vaping among school students remains a cause for concern for educators, parents and prevention groups such as the Royal Oak Community Coalition (ROCC), a nonprofit that works to curb illegal access and reduce the use of nicotine, and other drugs, among youth.
“Vaping is everywhere,” said Melissa Morris, ROCC’s executive director. “In Royal Oak it is at the high school, the middle school, and even some kids in the elementary schools are starting to vape.”
Morris is set to lead a presentation April 25 and talk with parents about the effects of vaping on teenagers and why they need to get involved. The location is pending and will either be via Zoom or at the Royal Oak Schools Administrative Offices, 800 DeVillen Ave.
“Vaping is bad for children’s lungs and it’s not healthy and it is not safe,” Morris said. “I just want parents to know that kids need to be taught about this and reach as many people as possible.”
Morris said she has gone into gas stations and vaping shops in the city and found that a couple of them were selling to minors.
The problem of children vaping can only be addressed if parents get involved and talk to their own daughters and sons about the issue, she said.
Tiffany Vosburg, president
of the Royal Oak Middle School Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), has already talked to her children. Her daughter, Heather, is a sixth-grader at the middle school, and her son, Colin attends Royal Oak High School.
“You hear about vaping,” among students, Vosburg said, “but it’s not something that’s talked about. I’ve learned more about it on social media, at the PTSA, and through webinars.”
She has talked to the middle school principal and realized that vaping nicotine is a bigger problem than most people think.
The schools give students information about the effects of vaping in health classes, Vosburg said, but more parents need to learn about it.
She raised the issue with her children because her daughter was about to attend middle school and her son has seeing vaping go on at the high school level, she said.
“The kids have seen vaping in videos, TikTok, and commercials,” Vosburg said, “and we have talked about the health effects, as well as how to respond to peer pressure.”
E-cigarettes and other devices are illegal for anyone under 21 to possess.
Royal Oak School Board of Education President Erika Alexander works professionally in addiction treatment.
“What we are seeing across the country and in Royal Oak we have seen in the past with cigarette smoking among adolescents,” she said. “But vaping is a lot easier to disguise and use without parents and teachers being aware.”
Vaping is not an epidemic in Royal Oak Schools, Alexander said, adding she was unable to quantify the level of e-cigarette use among students.
“Some students are using it in an experimental way and some in a regular way,” she said.
Where Alexander works she sees there are a number of children referred for vaping problems.
“We see a lot of kids who are struggling to quit,” she said.
Children who become addicted to nicotine from vaping say they continue to do it as a way to reduce stress or anxiety.
“Some say it helps them relax,” Alexander said, “so, they are using vaping without understanding it’s something that’s bad for them, or realizing the consequences of their use.”