Safety & Regulations
Stopping Vaping In Schools
Table of Contents
Over the last few years, there’s been a sharp and absolutely unwanted rise in “Youth Vaping” statistics. Youth Vaping is the term given to youths, who range from 11-17 years old, using E-Cigarettes despite being under the legal age to use or even buy them.
Disposable Vapes has been at the forefront of the blame for these numbers rising significantly over the last few years due to their sudden rise in popularity and unfortunately it’s become a common sight to see Youths roaming the streets using Disposable Vapes as well as being fully kitted out in school uniform using them on the walk to or from school.
And this is where the problems are beginning to unravel and become more consistent, with schools finding pupils vaping on school grounds, notably in toilets and hallways and this is turning their hands to start enforcing strict policies and procedures.
In this blog, I’m going to take a look at whether or not vape smoke alarms which are being installed in schools are actually working, what else is being done to combat the problem of vaping in schools that doesn’t seem to be going away as well as highlighting what we do here at Vape69 to ensure that our products do not get into the hands of someone not of the legal age to vape.
A Quick Look At Youth Vaping Statistics UK
We’ll start off by presenting some facts and figures relating to the topic of youth vaping here in the United Kingdom, looking at some studies and surveys carried out over the last couple of years. Some are saying that the UK is heading towards a “epidemic” like what the United States endured in 2020/2021, but looking at the statistics, and comparing the two, it certainly doesn’t seem that way so just some classic exaggeration from the media and anti vaping groups.
Action on Smoking and Health carry out surveys relating to vaping every year, and one of the subjects they look at is Youth Vaping. And unfortunately over the last few years of these surveys being conducted, we have seen a rise in the amount of 11-17 year olds using an E-Cigarette.
In 2023 20.5% of children had tried vaping which had risen from 15.8% in 2022 and 13.9% in 2020 before the first lockdown during the Covid pandemic. The majority had only vaped once or twice (11.6%), while 7.6% were currently vaping (3.9% less than once a week, 3.6% more than once a week)
And looking over to the type of E-Cigarette used, in 2023 69% of those who were surveyed said the most frequently used device was a disposable vape, which had risen up from 52% in 2022 and 7.7% in 2021. The most popular brand used amongst youths was Elf Bar. The other problem here is that 48% of those surveyed admitted the source for getting their Disposables was from a shop, and these shops are obviously showing no regard to Challenge 25 policies. More on this later in the blog.
Vaping In Schools – The Problem Persists
As you know, 11-17 years old is the age bracket of being school age, and with a high volume of the countries youth using E-Cigarettes, it will come as no surprise that schools in the UK have a battle on their hands to stop children using E-Cigarettes whilst at school.
Reports are coming out stating that children are dipping out of lessons or being late to lessons simply for the fact they are hiding up, normally in the toilets, to get a sneaky puff on their vape. It’s certainly evolved from when I was at school and wanted to dip out of a lesson just because I didn’t want to do the work!
Schools are fighting this never ending battle by trying different things out, with simple things like toilets and such being regularly checked by staff during lesson and break times, but also there’s been horror stories coming out about toilets being locked during lesson time as well as children not being permitted to leave lesson to go, despite being genuine and actually needing to use it.
This is where the latest invention in technology has come in, and is attempting to be the knight in shining armour that schools are desperate for, and that is the installation of “Vape Smoke Alarms” in toilets and hallways of schools, which can detect and will set off should it detect any vapour near it. But are these really the solution? Let’s look at them in more detail.
Do Schools Need Vape Smoke Alarms?
There’s several companies out there now that are manufacturing and marketing these specially created Vape Smoke Alarms. They’re different from a normal smoke alarm, as normally vapour produced from an E-Cigarette won’t trigger a smoke alarm to go off, because it’s vapour made up of particles which disperses in the air, where as smoke is thicker and tends to linger round more.
Installing one of these vape smoke alarms is certainly less invasive than installing a camera for example, as CCTV installed in toilets is just a big no go. These alarms can simply be placed in toilets or hallways or enclosed spaces where students may think they can get away with using an E-Cigarette, and when triggered, the alarm would go off and alert teaching staff to attend. It’s certainly a good deterrent tactic and one that could work well to keep kids away from wanting to use E-Cigarettes. They can also add in a sense of security for parents to show they are taking things seriously to combat youth vaping from happening in their school.
Unfortunately, vape smoke alarms aren’t the cheapest things on the market to buy, and some schools are put off installing them due to funding and financing these things, but it’s a small price to pay if it helps eliminate the problem I feel.
What Vape69 Does To Ensure We Only Sell To 18+
We take compliance and age verification very seriously here at Vape69, and we do everything we possibly can to ensure that our products are only sold to people of legal vaping age.
- Age Verification At Checkout – Every single customer that wants to place and complete a purchase with us here at Vape69 must go through and pass our Age Verification process using the 1Account system. This is so we can ensure our customers are of legal age to buy our products.
- No Advertising Where Children Can See – We do not advertise anywhere where it can be seen by children to entice them into wanting to vape. Advertisements play a huge role in influencing and we take great care ensuring what and where we advertise.
- Plain Packaging & Branding – We do not use any cartoon/childlike designs on any of our products, or on our website either. This is to ensure it’s not enticing to children, like what some brands do who use bright and vibrant designs as well as copying popular confectionary or drinks brands when making their vape juice.
We want to make sure that all of our customers buy from us with confidence, and will continue to do whatever we do to ensure that our products do not end up in the hands of minors.
