Ever since elementary school, students have been going to assemblies and presentations about the dangers of tobacco; in particular, smoking and vaping. So, why are more people, especially youth, vaping than ever before?
In the modern era, vaping is becoming increasingly prevalent. With a cigarette, someone is inhaling nearly seven thousand substances that are not researched for potential consequences to users’ health. Vape companies combine these substances with even more chemicals, some of them deliberately targeted towards kids. Nicotine pods often contain flavors of candy and fruit, making them appealing to younger users.
When someone vapes in a bathroom stall, it is immediately recognizable. The air and facilities reek of nicotine, and many students find the stench intolerable. Furthermore, not only is it unpleasant to inhale the secondhand effects of vape pens, it’s also unsafe.
According to the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, the chemicals in vape pens include pesticides, toxic flavorings, and others that they do not know much about.
Vapes are the cause of dozens of deaths across the United States and can cause multiple lung and heart diseases. In February of 2020, the CDC reported 2,807 vape-related lung injuries and 68 fatalities in between then and August 2019. It is also important to note that because of their electronics, vape pens can be just as, if not more, addictive than conventional cigarettes. According to the CDC, the amount of youth who use single-use vape pens has increased by one thousand percent.
“First of all, you lose money…and also you could end up in somewhere else,” Vikash Kuma, a custodian at Oakmont, said. “If you get addicted to that…your life can be upside down.”
Fortunately, the school has enacted new bathroom policies in an attempt to lower the amount of vaping in the bathrooms.
For example, there are signs posted inside and above the doorways that declare a four-person limit for the bathrooms. Each class uses Minga for its students’ bathroom passes. Both bathrooms near the Arts Center are closed during both lunches and sometimes the entire day to prevent students grouping together inside.
Some students argue the closure of the bathrooms only makes things worse. Students who don’t vape have fewer places to go to the bathroom because of the ones who do.
“It’s really infuriating, especially because when there’s only one open; you have to plan,” Iniyazh Hariharan, an Oakmont senior, said. “When there’s a lunchtime or a passing period, you can’t go then, so you have to wait…it makes a really awkward situation.”
Recently, teachers have specified that certain actions are forbidden in the school bathrooms, such as flushing vapes down the toilets and having more than one person in the stall—rules that, ordinarily, would not have to be spelled out in order for them to be followed.
“We’re more concerned that [there are] large groups of kids gathering in the bathroom,” Assistant Principal Sondra Myles said. “When the other people that need to use the bathroom can’t use the bathroom…we want to make sure that the bathrooms stay clear of loitering and [people] doing things they shouldn’t be doing in there.”
For now, students still have to contend with the unfortunate constant that is vaping in the bathrooms. Hopefully, in the near future, the school will create a more effective solution to prevent vaping from taking over the bathrooms.
