Resources for schools
A page for school administrators, counsellors, and educators.
Vaping is a serious problem in schools and getting worse – with more and more young people vaping than ever before.
They often mistakenly believe that it is safe to do so without understanding the serious impact vaping can have on their physical and mental health.
The marketing of vaping products is often aimed at young people, just like smoking in the last century, with sleek designs, cartoon characters on them and the flavours available.
As you know, social media is full of vape marketing and advertising/product placement via influencers.
The aim of this page is to give you all the information you need to educate yourself as well as connect with youth and teens about vaping.
6 ways to stop vaping in schools
Check out our curated list of the best ways to help reduce vaping in the school environment & help support your students.
Teen vaping statistics & facts
E-cigarettes have been on sale for over 10 years but in recent years there has been a rapid increase in adolescents vaping.
What are teens vaping?
Part of the reason for the growth in teen vaping is that vaping liquid, known as vaping juice comes in many flavours.
The most popular flavours for adolescents & young adults is different in UK & US.
Other reasons for the surge in teen vaping is the lack of regulation (unforgivable given nicotine is a highly addictive drug) and because the vape industry have mercilessly targeted youngsters in their marketing and advertising (and been allowed to do so for over 10 years).
Why do teens vape (use e-cigarettes)?
The reason many US adolescents start vaping is because of the flavours of which there are now an estimated 16,000 available.
Many US teens also report that due to the widespread advertising they are curious about the products and want to try them.
Should teens vape? What you need to know.
E-cigarettes are illegal to be sold to under 18s but they can be ordered online so for a youngster with access to your credit card they are readily available as are the vaping liquids or juices.
Sadly, there are many retail outlets that sell to teens in spite of the law and a thriving black market amongst teens in classrooms across the country.
What are the side effects of vaping?
Vaping is probably safer than smoking but it isn’t safe.
Read about the physical and mental health issues it can cause as well as what is in vape juice.
What is in vaping juice?
Vaping liquid / juice contains around 80 different chemicals.
Not one of the four main ingredients in vapes (propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, nicotine and any number of different flavourings) are designed to be breathed into your lungs.
Nicotine free vapes are safe?
Some vaping juices say they are nicotine free but it turns out, a lot of times they actually sneak in some nicotine!
And that stuff is super addictive.
But nicotine is only one of the nasty chemicals that are in vape juice.
How to talk to teens about vaping and help them to quit vaping
Read some simple tips to help your teen to quit but the best way is to use Allen Carr’s Easyway for teens to quit vaping
Celebrity testimonials
See what a few celebrities say about Allen Carr’s Easyway
A few client videos
References:
- Wang TW, Neff LJ, Park-Lee E, et al. E-cigarette Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2020. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2020;69. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6937e1.htm?s_cid=mm6937e1_w%20
- Samir S. Soneji, Kristin E. Knutzen, Andrea C. Villanti. Use of Flavored E-Cigarettes Among Adolescents, Young Adults, and Older Adults: Findings From the Population Assessment for Tobacco and Health Study. Public Health Reports, 2019; 003335491983096 DOI: 1177/0033354919830967 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0033354919830967
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- The New England Journal of Medicine : Trends in Adolescent Vaping, 2017–2019 October 10, 2019 N Engl J Med 2019; 381:1490-1491 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc1910739 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1910739 and University of Michigan Monitoring the Future vaping survey 2021 Richard Miech; Adam Leventhal; Lloyd Johnston Pediatrics October 2020, JAMA Pediatr. 2021;175(2):185-190; DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.5667, 2022 update
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- US Department of Health and Human Services. E-cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon Generalpdf icon[PDF – 8.47MB]. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2016. Accessed July 27, 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/e-cigarettes/pdfs/2016_sgr_entire_report_508.pdf and US Department of Health and Human Services. E-cigarette Use Among Middle and High School Students 2020pdf icon[PDF – 8.47MB]. US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2020. Weekly / September 18, 2020 / 69(37);1310–1312. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6937e1.htm?s_cid=mm6937e1_w
- July 2018 Gallup poll https://news.gallup.com/poll/237818/young-people-adopt-vaping-smoking-rate-plummets.aspx
- Parental Awareness of Youth Tobacco Use and the Role of Household Tobacco Rules in Use Prevention Tsu-Shuan Wu and Benjamin W. Chaffee Pediatrics October 2020, e20194034; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-4034 https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/10/01/peds.2019-4034
- ASH Use of e-cigarettes among young people in Great Britain ASH-Factsheet-Youth-E-cigarette-Use-2019 , YouthEcig2020 , , Use-of-e-cigarettes-among-young-people-in-Great-Britain-2021, Use-of-e-cigarettes-among-young-people-in-Great-Britain-2022, https://ash.org.uk/uploads/Use-of-vapes-among-young-people-GB-2023-v2.pdf
- National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes Report – https://www.nap.edu/resource/24952/012318ecigaretteConclusionsbyEvidence.pdf
- World Health Organisation Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2021
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- NHS: Flavouring found in e-cigarettes linked to ‘popcorn lung’ https://www.nhs.uk/news/heart-and-lungs/flavouring-found-in-e-cigarettes-linked-to-popcorn-lung/
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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749113005307 - Grana, R; Benowitz, N; Glantz, S. “Background Paper on E-cigarettes,” Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California, San Francisco and WHO Collaborating Center on Tobacco Control. December 2013.
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- Guardian Newspaper https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/18/uk-health-expert-raises-alarm-at-epidemic-of-vaping-among-teenagers
- Elf bar nicotine levels Dr. Onkar Mudhar https://vaping360.com/learn/how-much-nicotine-is-in-a-elf-bar/#:~:text=Nicotine%20in%20a%20cigarette%20compared%20to%20Elf%20Bars,-A%20recent%20Tiktok&text=Dr.,equivalent%2020%20milligrams%20of%20nicotine.%E2%80%9D
- United states most popular vape flavor teenagers – Statista 2022
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. National Youth Tobacco Survey 2022
- The Unexpected Harms of Vaping https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/understanding-health-behaviors/202309/the-unexpected-harms-of-vaping
- Vaping and mental health: What’s the connection?https://blogs.bcm.edu/2021/05/06/vaping-and-mental-health-whats-the-connection/
