Vaping is becoming a growing problem among young people. Although initially billed as a healthier alternative to smoking cigarettes, vapes come with their own problems. Numerous chemicals are used in these products, some of which are very harmful and addictive, like nicotine. As a result, students are experiencing significant problems caused by vapes, and it’s important steps are taken to tackle the issue.
One place where children are exposed to vaping is schools. Given our expertise in producing quality vape detectors, we have significant data behind us from our years of experience working with schools all over the US. We know the hotspots and the typical behaviors, and in this guide, we share those insights.
We also explain the steps that you can take to tackle vaping in schools. So whether you’re a teacher, a principal or a concerned parent, you’re bound to find something useful here.
How Common Is Vaping In Schools?
Vaping in schools is more common than you think. Various surveys and studies have sought to get an idea of the true figure.
According to AP News, around 10% of high school students reported using e-cigarettes in 2023. Around 5% of middle school students reportedly vaped in the same year, too.
This is a significant number of children. There are around 15 million high school students in the US, and around 12 million middle school students. This means around 1.5 million high school students vape, and around 600,000 middle school students.
While AP News reported a decrease in vaping of 14.1%, the figures are still very high.
How Vaping Can Harm Children
Though billed as a safer option to smoking tobacco products, vaping carries its own risks and still contains some of the most harmful chemicals found in cigarettes. These chemicals can have an even greater negative effect on children, whose bodies are still developing and are less likely to withstand the harm inflicted by them.
Here’s a breakdown of the chemicals found in vape pens and how they could harm children:
- Nicotine – by far the most damaging chemical compound found in vapes is nicotine. Some vape products use synthetic nicotine, but its impact is just as damaging. For young, developing brains, nicotine can have a serious effect. For example, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said vaping can impact a child’s mood, make them more impulsive, and damage their attention spans. It can also lead to health problems, including tiredness, fatigue and acne.
- Propylene Glycol (PG) and Vegetable Glycerin (VG) – two common chemicals found in vapes are PG and VG. While they are considered safe, inhaling too much can cause respiratory problems
- Flavoring Agents – the broad range of tasty flavors is one of the reasons why so many children are drawn to vapes. If they all tasted like cigarettes, there’s a good chance they wouldn’t be as much of a draw. While these flavor agents are generally safe, research is still ongoing as to whether or not they can change into more harmful chemical compounds when heated.
- Metals – in rare cases, low-quality vapes can see metal components, like the heating coil, become damaged. This can lead to toxic chemicals like lead being inhaled
As you can see, there are plenty of reasons why children shouldn’t vape. But that doesn’t stop them trying. Let’s take a look at some of the most common places where they vape at school
The Top 5 Places Where Students Vape At School
A canny student will go out of their way to find a hidden spot to vape. It’s hard for teachers and supervisors to have eyes and ears everywhere, which can make the task of enforcing no-vape rules impossible.
However, you can narrow your search down by focusing on these known places where students vape at school. Let’s start with the most common.
1. Bathrooms and Restrooms
Bathrooms and restrooms are arguably the most popular spots for students to vape at school. Beyond the watchful eyes of teachers, children enjoy more privacy here. Given how vapor can dissipate very quickly, it can be hard to catch children in the act, especially as toilets are supervised less continuously compared to other areas.
Bathrooms also tend to be social hubs in schools, a place where different children meet and congregate. It’s natural for bad behaviors to be encouraged, and with peer pressure a factor, children could take up things like vaping with little else to stop them.
2. Locker Rooms and Changing Areas
A close second to bathrooms are locker rooms and changing areas. Similar to toilets, these areas tend to have high footfall, with students coming and going all day. They’re also less heavily monitored by staff due to them not wanting to infringe on a child’s privacy.
The fact that children are getting changed and going into their bags also increases the odds of them concealing a vape pen.
Given strict privacy laws, CCTV cameras aren’t a legal option, making locker rooms a difficult location to police.
3. Stairwells and Isolated Hallways
You may begin to notice a trend here. Low-visibility places like stairwells are also popular for students. Older schools, or larger ones, may have quieter parts to them, and some may even have abandoned or isolated hallways or classrooms.
There may be blind spots and dead ends which can make supervision difficult. And there is also the potential for quick escape routes, making it difficult for school staff to police and enforce the rules.
Nowadays, many schools are locking off unused stairwells and hallways.
4. Empty Classrooms or Storage Areas
Just like isolated corridors, students seek out empty or quiet classrooms, as well as storage areas, where they can vape without a supervising eye watching them.
Sometimes, schools have different timetables, meaning classrooms are vacated and are generally not supervised by staff. These are opportunities that keen children will seize to vape.
Issues can also arise with after-school clubs, when the school is generally a lot quieter. Staff should do all they can to lock unused classrooms and conduct thorough walkthroughs during break times to catch any vapers in the act.
5. School Buses and Parking Lots
School buses and parking lots fall outside of the school’s purview and, as a result, make it easier for students to misbehave through the likes of vaping. Drivers may be focused on the road and may not see children vaping at the back of the bus. They may also vape out of open windows, making them even harder to catch.
Given the social pressures that often come with school buses, children may be forced or encouraged to vape when they don’t want to, as well.
It’s likely that, given the improvements made to tackle vaping in schools, vaping before and after is likely to increase, so steps should be taken to observe these hotspots too.
How Schools Can Combat Hidden Vaping
It’s not easy for schools to take action to encourage children to curb vaping. As we’ve explained above, the chemicals found in these smoking products are highly addicitive. The nature of vapes also makes them very convenient and easy to conceal, which makes your job of enforcing no-vape policies even harder.
However, help is at hand, and as we explain in greater depth below, we’ve helped schools achieve fantastic results with our state-of-the-art vape detectors. There are other steps schools can take beyond installing vape detectors. Some successful methods we’ve encountered include:
- Installing Vape Detection Technology – vape sensors like ours can effectively tackle incidents of vaping in schools and offer revolutionary results. We explain more on this below, where we review one of our case studies.
- Greater Education On The Issues – it’s vital to educate pupils on the risks of vaping and explain to them how it can cause problems to their health, such as hair loss. As well as teaching students, it’s important to inform teachers and supervisors on the signs of vaping, too. This way, interventions can be made.
- Improved Supervision – if you know there are vaping hotspots, it’s important to do regular sweeps and checks for any children breaking the rules.
- Improved Policies – introducing stricter policies, like bathroom policies, can help tackle issues of anti-social behavior. Such policies could restrict the number of students allowed in a bathroom at once, for example.
- Installing Anti-Vaping Signage In Hot Spots – erecting visible signage to educate and deter students from vaping can prove useful. See our dedicated guide here.
- Offering Support Instead Of Punishment – in some cases, vaping should be considered a health issue. There may be underlying causes, such as problems at home or personal trauma. And there may be cases where a child has become addicted. Instead of berating them for their mistakes, helping them work through the issues could lead to better results.
We Helped Match Charter Public School Reduce Vaping By 80%
As a teacher or school administrator, the problem of vaping on school premises can feel like an overwhelming one, with little ability to stop it. However, we have helped hundreds of schools across the US reduce vaping on their premises.
Take Match Charter Public School, for example. They reached out to us with what they described as an “epidemic” of vaping in their schools. We arranged for the installation of our vape sensors in their various hotspots and within a few weeks, saw a staggering result.
Within 16 weeks, our 3D Sense Vape Detectors reduced vaping events by a huge 80%, making it one of the most effective methods around.
You can discover more testimonials here.
Get In Touch For A Free Demo Unit
If you’d like to take a positive step today to tackle vaping in your school, then reach out to us for a free demo unit. You can set this device up easily on your own and test it in full, trialing alerts with staff computers and mobile devices.
As well as detecting vapor, our sensors can also detect keywords relating to smoking or any other form of anti-social behavior, and can also detect raised noise levels too.
If you still have questions before ordering then we’re more than happy to answer them. Please reach out to us for free today to get started.