One Wisconsin school superintendent was so determined to confiscate e-cigarettes that she allegedly made students strip down to their underwear in a school bathroom. After an investigation, she was arrested and charged with six counts of false imprisonment.
There’s got to be a better way.
Is Vaping Really a Problem in Schools?
Unfortunately yes, and the statistics are alarming. According to data analyzed by the CDC and FDA from the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey, 3.02 million high school students (19.6%) and 550,000 middle school students (4.7%) reported current e-cigarette use. Among those students, 22.5% of high school users and 9.4% of middle school users reported smoking daily.
There’s more:
According to the American Lung Association, there’s been a 135% increase of youth e-cigarette users in just two years!
One Oklahoma teacher expressed her frustration with the vaping crisis on the National Education Association’s Facebook page.
“The bathrooms shouldn’t smell like blueberry flavoring,” teacher Christine Pankrantz said in a NEA Today Facebook post. “Our students use them in their cars…in the bathrooms…we’ve had scientists and doctors come talk about the dangers of vaping, but it seems that we’re fighting a losing battle. They’re so easy to get.”
What Exactly Are Vapes and E-cigarettes?
E-cigarettes are electronic devices that heat liquids — which usually contain nicotine — to produce a chemical-filled aerosol. Many of the liquids, known as e-liquids, are fruit flavored, making them especially appealing to kids and teens.
Vaping instruments come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and many are concealed to look like everyday objects such as USB flash drives, pens, and lipstick tubes. Others resemble more traditional smoking vessels such as cigarettes, cigars, and pipes.
E-cigarette is a blanket term that covers various types of smoking devices. They are also commonly referred to as vapes or vape pens, as well e-cigs, mods, and e-hookahs.
One of the most popular e-cigarettes among teens is the JUUL, which looks like a USB flash drive. The JUUL produces minimal aerosol while in use and can potentially contain high levels of nicotine.
Is Vaping Really That Dangerous? Isn’t It Safer Than Real Cigarettes?
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, e-cigarette aerosol is not safe. In addition to containing nicotine, e-cigarettes contain harmful and potentially harmful ingredients, such as formaldehyde and acrolein, which can cause irreversible lung damage.
A study from the University of North Carolina found that inhaling propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin — the two primary ingredients found in e-cigarettes — is likely to expose users to a high level of toxins, even in small doses. And the more ingredients the smoker inhales, the greater the toxicity.
It gets worse:
In addition, e-cigarettes can also be used for marijuana and other drugs, making it the perfect gateway to further substance abuse. In February 2022, a vape pen seized at a school in Iowa was found to contain the potentially deadly drug fentanyl.
“Our message comes with an added sense of urgency as a dangerous national trend has been identified here in the Quad-Cities area,” read a statement from the Bettendorf Community School District issued to parents asking them to talk to their children about vaping and its risks. “Across the country and in our local community, authorities have discovered an increase in the presence of vaping devices that contain ingredients laced with the potentially fatal drug fentanyl.”
Can Teachers Spot and Confiscate E-cigs?
E-cigarettes come in many shapes and forms. They’re usually small and can be tucked into pockets, concealed in backpacks, and even hidden away in school lunches. And as we mentioned earlier, many are designed to resemble everyday objects like flash drives.
These objects can easily go unnoticed as kids make their way around the school grounds during the day. Because e-cigarettes don’t produce a big cloud of smoke like regular cigarettes, it’s easy for kids to take a quick hit in the bathroom, school parking lot, playground, and even in class when the teacher’s back is turned.
Asking teachers and school officials to search for and confiscate what appear to be everyday objects from students brings up difficult questions of privacy, students’ rights, and even time management.
A model student who brings a flash drive containing her world history PowerPoint presentation will likely feel violated having it confiscated between classes. And the teacher just wasted his precious time confiscating a legitimate object. No one wins in this scenario.
Or worse. Students may be subjected to humiliating and illegal searches, such as the one allegedly conducted by that superintendent in Wisconsin.
How Can We Keep E-cigs Out of Schools?
According to the Addiction Prevention Coalition, initiatives such as tobacco education classes, peer-to-peer education, parental involvement, anonymous reporting systems, mental health counseling, and smoking/vaping cessation programs are key to reducing e-cigarette usage among kids.
But as important and necessary as it is to implement these tactics, let’s be real.
They don’t always work.
Fortunately there’s a simple and effective way to keep e-cigarettes out of your school: a metal detector.
How can a metal detector spot a tiny e-cig?
New generation metal detectors, such as BallistiSCAN, use innovative micro sensors that can detect even the smallest objects like e-cigarettes.
Utilizing advanced signal processing algorithms and magnetic noise filters that ensure an accurate reading with no false positives, the detector detects the movement of iron objects that move between two sensors. And that includes e-cigarettes.
The school doesn’t have to look like a prison
BallistiSCAN’s unique low visual profile design maintains a comfortable environment for all who pass through. The system sits on barrier poles and doesn’t feature the classic archway associated with old-school metal detectors. Students can quickly pass through without feeling like they’re being monitored.
Best of all, the BallistiSCAN is portable, making it the ideal metal detector to suit a school’s changing needs. Want to check for e-cigs at the school dance in the auditorium? Need to move it to the entrance of the gym for the basketball game? No problem. The system, which fits easily into the provided portable case, only takes 10 minutes to set up.
Contact us to learn more about how this unique system can take the guesswork out of keeping e-cigarettes and vaping out of the halls of your school.[nectar_btn size=”large” open_new_tab=”true” button_style=”regular” button_color_2=”Accent-Color” icon_family=”none” text=”Get in touch now” url=”https://staging.ballistiglass.com/contact-contact-information-locations-and-queries/”]
