Vaping and smoking are extremely bad for you. Much like cigarettes, vapes contain many toxic chemicals that can harm the body. Vaping can cause, in extreme cases, lung cancer and heart problems. It is even more severe when used at a young age.
Our school social worker, Katie Ray, states, “Vaping has a deleterious effect on health, especially lung function. It’s highly addictive and can lead to addiction/habitual use. Like most substances, it also affects brain development in young people.” This is extremely dangerous for the body, and in most cases, leads to repetitive use of other, more harmful substances in the future. The frontal lobe doesn’t fully develop until the age of 25. Vaping can cause severe problems and developmental problems in your brain, as it directly reacts with parts of the brain to release chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin. These chemicals are what cause the so-called “buzz”, yet it results in a feeling of emptiness if nicotine isn’t included in daily activities. It makes the developing brain associate happiness with the smoke inhaled.
Vaping and smoking in Barlow High School are strictly prohibited, and possession or use of these items by a minor is illegal. Vaping inside schools results in an in-school suspension (ISS) and further disciplinary actions for continuing offenses. They begin with a one-day school suspension, the number of days escalating for each offense, and require three weeks of a family workshop series from Northwest Family Services. This is paired with parent-teacher meetings and random searches. These consequences are much more extreme for the use of other substances like drugs and alcohol. The staff and administration at Sam Barlow are aware of these actions, which are more commonly done in the bathrooms and cars in the parking lots, as Jason Bhear mentioned. Students are caught participating in these activities daily and are reprimanded accordingly. According to Mrs. Husbands, one of our assistant principals, “We ask the adults in the building to limit the number of students needed to leave the classroom. Campus monitors randomly walk through the bathrooms throughout the day and are stationed there before school and at lunch. Unfortunately, we have had to lock and close several of our bathrooms to better monitor the bathrooms.” We must keep the bathrooms clear and clean for those who actually intend to use them.
Although these activities are more than likely done at home as well, as a school and administration, we want the students to be free of harm from secondhand smoke and direct inhalation. As long as vaping is being done in Sam Barlow, our excellent staff will continue to fight it.
