Earlier this week, when Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said vaping was “the number one behavioural issue in high schools”, the Federal Government’s declaration of war against vaping put Australian educators at the frontline.
The announcement of a suite of reforms aimed at reducing vaping is positive, but for parents and teachers concerned about the vaping habits of a growing number of Australian school students, what will the changes really mean?
And what does the evidence show about the popularity of vaping in schools and the behavioural issues that are associated with it?
A closer look at teenage vape (e-cigarette) use through the Generation Vape study, led by Becky Freeman, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, is confronting.
The study tracks teenagers’ knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours about using vapes and is the result of surveying young people across Australia, aged 13–17, as well as their parents and carers, their secondary school teachers, principals and other education sector administrators.
Here are some of the results:
Of the 721 young people surveyed:
- 32 per cent had ever vaped (“ever-vapers”)
- 54 per cent of ever-vapers had not tried cigarettes before starting vaping
- ever-smokers were seven times more likely to be ever-vapers than those who had never smoked (in other words, young people who have tried smoking are more likely to try vaping)
- ever-vapers were 18 times more likely to be ever-smokers than those who had never vaped (in other words, young people who had ever tried vaping were significantly more likely to have ever tried smoking).
The data also revealed:
- more than half of those trying a vape for the first time are under age 16
- more than half of ever-vapers reported knowingly using a vape that contained nicotine
- vaping is seen as a socially acceptable behaviour that is separate and unique from smoking.
How vaping impacts teachers
According to the teachers and educators surveyed, it is clear that managing vaping issues has become an emotional and time-consuming strain on their teaching role. The findings include:
- 58 per cent of teachers have confiscated vaping products from students two or more times a week
- 86 per cent of teachers are concerned or very concerned about students vaping in their school
- 62 per cent of teachers are aware of vaping products being sold on school grounds.
Teachers reported a need to police students by conducting bag and pencil case searches – and that managing vaping as a disciplinary issue impacted teaching time.
Principals and school administrators talked about other associated issues, such as the cost of monitoring the issue on school grounds, by using school funds to install vape detectors in school toilets, and the additional time of talking with parents of children caught vaping, as well as real safety risks connected to strangers coming to the school gate to sell vapes to students.
The Government’s war on vaping will see states and territories work together to clamp down on the increasing black market in vaping, as well as stopping the illegal import of non-prescription vapes.
The strict measures will also include the increase of minimum quality standards for prescription vapes, with restrictions on colours and flavours.
Prescription vapes will be forced to come in “pharmacy-like packaging” (think the plain packaging for cigarettes) and the changes will also see permissible nicotine concentrations and volumes reduced, with single-use, disposable vapes banned.
While it seems good news, the pressure on teachers to identify and deal with schoolyard vaping continues, but with the May 9 Federal Budget predicted to provide $234 million to address smoking and vaping in the Australian community, it will be interesting to see how quickly positive change happens.
