Vapes have become significantly more slender, quiet and concealable since e-cigarettes originally hit the market.
As a result, some high schools have had issues with students vaping on campus.
Daniel Chesser is the public relations specialist for Auburn City Schools.
He said that the school system first started seeing issues with vaping in school during the 2018-2019 school year.
“We have had cases of vaping with students in Auburn City Schools, but we have a strong stance on the consequences of vaping, and that is made clear to all parents and students when they sign the code of conduct before school starts as a contract to abide by that code of conduct,” Chesser said.
The code of conduct for Auburn City Schools explicitly prohibits the possession and use of electronic smoking devices.
The consequences of vaping are the same as using other tobacco products, such as smoking a cigarette.
However, enforcing the prohibition of vapes and e-cigarettes poses school administration a different challenge than the prohibition of traditional cigarettes.
“It’s a new technology, and it’s something that I think can be discrete or concealed easily,” Chesser said.
Auburn High School currently implements educational tactics to curb vaping among students.
The school has a contract with the East Alabama Mental Health Center, which sends prevention specialists who go and speak to all health classes, Chesser said.
“They cover vaping in depth, and they talk very frankly with students,” Chesser said. “One class recently discussed current events such as seizures and neurological problems related to vaping.”
This current rise of medical problems and illnesses related to vaping has brought the issue to the attention of some parents.
Kelly Greene is a parent of an Auburn High School student.
She’s against vaping, largely because she doesn’t think students realize its severity, she said.
Greene said she wants the school’s current rules to be strictly enforced, adding that the school has a responsibility to educate the students about the health risks associated with vaping.
“If parents aren’t concerned about it, someone needs to be concerned about it and educate the children,” Greene said. “Some kids don’t have that luxury at home to be surrounded by people who are wanting what’s best for them.”
Greene also has an issue with the concealable nature of some vapes on the market, such as the Juul, a small vape stick about the size of a flash drive.
She said it is terrible that these devices can be hidden from school administration and teachers.
These companies are taking advantage of young people, she said.
Patrick Morrow is another parent of an Auburn High student, and he also feels that part of the cause of the problem of vaping on campus is how accessible vapes can be for these high school students.
“The access to [vape products] at gas stations for minors, that’s a big issue,” Morrow said.
Auburns City Schools is exploring different ideas to find a working solution to the vaping issue in the school system.
“As one of our priorities, we have plans in the works to bring in programs and speakers to spread awareness of the dangers of vaping — with efforts to prevent vaping in the first place,” Chesser said.
Auburn High is also considering installing sensors throughout the school that detect vapor, but is hesitant to do so because of the high cost of retrofitting the campus with these sensors.
Faculty and staff at Opelika High School have also seen an increase in issues with vaping.
“We deal with it on a case-by-case basis to get the issue resolved with the students and their families,” said Opelika High School Principal Farrell Seymour. “Our priority is student safety.”
Earlier this month, Wilson High School in Florence, Alabama, made national headlines when the school removed doors to some of its bathroom stalls in an effort to prevent students from vaping in the bathroom.
This action was taken after a student vaping was found passed out in a bathroom stall, Wilson High School Principal Gary Horton told WAFF-TV.
This action was only taken in the boys’ restroom, and it will continue to serve as a temporary solution to the student-vaping issue until a more permanent solution can be found by the school.
This action was met with criticism from parents of the school.
Parents offered alternative solutions, including providing a hall monitor or adult supervision.
Morrow felt that approach would not go over well at Auburn High.
High school students are at an age when they highly value privacy, Morrow said.
Greene said she didn’t think the removal of stall doors would be effective.
“It probably wouldn’t stop [the students],” Greene said. “If it did, it would stop them for a minute, and then they’d figure out how to be clever.”
Auburn City Schools has not removed any bathroom doors or taken any similar drastic measures.
“As a school system, we plan to keep stall doors on bathrooms,” Chesser said.
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Evan Mealins, senior in philosophy and economics, is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.
