Hello here! Your College Place School Resource Officer, Officer Schild. Today I wanted to share about vaping by our youth.
Vaping with our youth seems to be increasing and appears vapes are here to stay, at least for a while. The manufacturers have made these vapes to seem cool and safe to our youth, which they are not. The flavors that are sold are ‘fun’ like watermelon ice, grape, honeydew, and more. While most vapes we see are nicotine, there are also marijuana vapes that are flavored.
Once a youth has starts to vape it is hard for them to stop this habit. I have spoken to our youth about why they decide to vape, some of the answers I have gotten are: it helps them with stress, calms them down, or because their friends are doing it. Our youth thinking that they need some kind of substance to help them out at this young of an age will not help they as they get older. This can lead to substance abuse later in life and a strong addiction as vapes are far more potent than ever before.
Some things to look for if you think you child could be vaping.
1. Nicotine addiction- vape oils are highly addictive.
2. Mood disorders-- if your child is off of their baseline it is worth a conversation.
3. Increased anxiety and depression- nicotine can make anxiety and depression worse.
4. Your child is experiencing new sleep problems.
If you are seeing this in your child it doesn’t necessarily mean they are vaping, but these are things you can be on the lookout for; especially if you have concerns your child might be using vapes.
Some of the known effects from vaping:
1. Addiction in the growing brain may set up pathways in the brain for addiction to other substances
2. Exposure to cancer causing chemicals
3. Lung damage
4. Chronic bronchitis
Vaping is another important topic to address as parents to help our youths find healthy ways to regulate themselves. If you have early detection, it will be easier to help your youth out instead of waiting until it is too late.
