Worldwide, many children and teenagers are smoking vapes who are under the age limit. Now, the addiction to vaping is so big that the students take the opportunity to smoke in secret or deal with vapes in school toilets, just like at MCG.

MCG is having the same problem, so the principal decided to solve the problem by locking the doors of the toilets. Many students are questioning, if  this is the right way to handle this problem ? 

”Why do teenagers smoke in the first place?” is a question we asked our principal Mr Passerah.  He thinks it “is happening because of Social Media especially Instagram, People think that smoking is cool.” According to him, most people start vaping because “they think it’s healthier than smoking cigarettes“. Deputy principal Mr Biewald agrees, adding that teenagers, who smoke might want to ”impress their friends”.  Children are impressionable, so they should be critical of what they see on the internet, because it is not always good or cool.  

The main concern in connection with smoking vapes in school is strong. ”There are many aspects to consider. For one, the law does not allow smoking in school”, as Mr Passerah points out. The most important concern, however, is young people’s health which is threatened by the fact that the students can get addicted of the nicotine in the vape. So if you decide to vape you should be aware of the damage it could do to your body. 

To prevent vaping in school the MCG decided to lock the girls’ toilets. If you want to go to the toilet, you have to get a key from the school office and enter your name on a list. As a consequence, many students now are complaining, convinced that teachers should rather educate their students about the risks rather than locking toilet doors. ”Locking the doors of the girls toilet is a step towards reducing smoking vapes and not preventing it”, Mr Passerah told us. Many students have complained about this, but it is obviously difficult to get someone, who has time to inform the students about vaping, but,” end of April, someone from the drug advice center (Drogenberatung Recklinghausen) will visit us to inform the students about vaping.“ 

Despite limiting access to toilets, female students still continue vaping in the school toilet, blowing smoke out of the window so they will not get caught. But what if someone gets caught, what punishment will they get? ”The punishment depends on the case, it is worse if someone is vaping in school than behind the gym“, we were told. On top of that, the smoker’s parents will be informed and they are expected to talk to their child. 

        MCG holds the title ”Gute Gesunde Schule” and we asked ourselves whether this was now in danger. Mr. Passerah informed us that, ”It’s a general problem and it happens at every school and we have to deal with the problem”. So to earn the certificate you have to deal with such problems and not just pretend nothing was happening. 

Another big problem is that most shops are selling vapes to minors. Mr Passerah agrees that selling vapes at minor is ”a big problem and it should be more difficult to buy vapes.”  

On the question whether the age limit for buying vapes should be raised to 21, as decided in New Zealand, Mr Passerah disagrees because, he does not expect a difference in outcome. Also, age limits for buying alcohol would also have to be raised. 

Teenagers and kids under the age limit should be aware of how unhealthy vaping is and it is a bad decision to smoke in general. So stop Vaping and handle right.