Youth vaping on the rise
‘We’re in a red-alert state now,’ says lung association
Chad Peck’s students wouldn’t dare light a cigarette in his Grade 10 English class, but vaping? That’s a risk one student was willing to take.
“We were watching a video and I happened to turn around and see a kid with the light of his vape lighting up,” recalled the English teacher at Cobequid Educational Centre in Truro.
“It’s the first time I’ve had it happen in my class specifically, but I’ve heard plenty of stories of people getting caught vaping,” said Peck.
Not all students are brave enough to vape in class though.
Hans Budgey, a science teacher at CEC, has caught multiple students vaping in the men’s washroom.
“I use student washrooms sometimes and it’s the No. 1 place where male students are vaping,” said Budgey.
Budgey said he’s also suspected many students of vaping, but wouldn’t have been able to prove it unless he searched their pockets.
Locker rooms and hallways are hot spots for vaping, too, said Jerry MacPhee, a physical education teacher at a Halifax Regional Municipality school.
“It’s in the phys-ed change rooms, the hallways, right outside the school doors, in the bathrooms, you name it,” said MacPhee.
Vaping has become almost as big of an issue as cellphones at schools.
“The thing with this stuff is it’s so easy for them to do and get away with it,” said MacPhee. “Every kid has one now. Even if they don’t own one, they’re sharing it.”
It is illegal to sell or give vaping products to anyone under the age of 18 under the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act.
Students caught vaping at schools are disciplined under the provincial school code of conduct policy, said Doug Hadley, Halifax Regional Centre for Education spokesman.
A principal may suspend a student for vaping for up to 10 days or recommend a longer suspension to the regional centre for education, states the provincial policy. Mohammed Al-hamdani, health initiatives director at the Lung Association of Nova Scotia, said the rise of youth vaping rates is alarming.
“We’re in a red-alert state now,” Al-hamdani said.
Vapes are more convenient than cigarettes and its flavours and vapour attracts younger customers, he said.
Short-term health effects from vaping include discomfort and breathing problems, but longterm harms are unknown, said Al-hamdani.
“The main health risk that we will be facing now is the risks of high levels of nicotine that are being delivered through these new vaping devices,” said Alhamdani.
“The really big issue with the increased vaping rates is not just related to the vaping itself. It’s about how many of those youth are going to start smoking after they start vaping,” said the health initiatives director.
Smoking and vaping are more harmful than smoking cigarettes alone, said Al-hamdani.
Al-hamdani is scheduled to talk about health risks vaping at schools in the coming weeks.