Teen Vaping Concerns Grow in Warren County Public Schools

Sarah Belville raised concerns about middle school students vaping in the bathrooms at Skyline Middle School during the Warren County School Board’s Wednesday meeting.

Sarah Belville, a Warren County, Va., resident, is concerned about the increased use of vaping by students, particularly her own daughter, who attends Warren County High School.

“Throughout the last three years, we have dealt with the issue of vapes in the school,” Belville told Warren County School Board members during their Wednesday, September 6 meeting. “I have been in constant contact with the principal and administrators regarding keeping her in class versus hanging out, hiding in the bathroom.”

Last year was really tough, according to Belville, who said she kept finding multiple vapes on her daughter.

“Every week throughout the school year, I was finding at least two to three or six or more a week, all of which she acquired at the school,” Belville told the board members. “I have spoken frequently with the admins and the principal about other options to keep my kid in class. More needs to be done to keep the kids from gathering in the bathrooms and vaping.”

Belville pointed out that detectors and other “little things” that have been done at the high school aren’t enough to deter vaping. 

“It is my suggestion that we need to stop allowing the students to gather in the bathrooms. They need to be out in the open. They need to be where the adults can see what they are up to,” she said. “The number of kids in the bathroom at one time needs to be reduced, and teachers or aides need to be present before classes in the morning, during class changes, and after classes let out.”

She also suggested bathroom monitoring by the adults to deter the sale of vapes in the school bathrooms.

“Those at the top need to give better guidelines to our principals, teachers, and admins on how to better handle this situation and actually nip it in the bud,” Belville said. “More needs to be done, and it’s up to us adults to do it.”

Warren County Public Schools (WCPS) Superintendent Christopher Ballenger agreed.

During his superintendent’s report to the School Board on Wednesday, Ballenger also addressed teen vaping, noting that since the start of the school year about three ago, WCPS has experienced an increase in the number of vapes or e-cigarettes containing nicotine, THC, or synthetic chemicals. 

“This is not just a school problem to address, but should include the entire school community to help address this issue,” he said.

Ballenger pointed to federal research that shows 66 percent of teens think their vaping instrument only contains flavored liquids, when in fact, such devices may contain other harmful toxins and drugs.

And because he thinks the conversation with students about such topics starts with the family, Ballenger outlined signs for how parents and guardians can identify whether their teen is vaping, including the presence of vaping equipment among his or her belongings and knowing that e-cigs may resemble traditional tobacco products like cigarettes or cigars or pipes.

They may even resemble common gadgets like pens, flashlights, USB drives, fidget spinners, gaming controls, car key fobs, smartwatches, or even asthma inhalers, he said. 

“In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings to several companies for marketing” such products, said Ballenger.

The superintendent added that 15 different e-cig products — packaged to resemble toys, food, or cartoon characters that were likely to promote the use of vaping among adolescents in 2022 — remain the most common tobacco product used by students in high school and middle school.

At the same time, he said, children are exposed to e-cig advertising on TV, in magazines, online, on billboards, and from their friends.

“And more than a quarter, 27.6 percent of current youth e-cigarette users say they use an e-cigarette product every day,” Ballenger said.

Not surprisingly, teens are resourceful when it comes to purchasing these items, he added, saying they can be bought through Snapchat, for instance, by utilizing a cash app or credit card and then having it dropped off at their front doors. All someone has to do, said Ballenger, is click on ‘over 21’ and use the card to make a purchase.

“Although it’s illegal,” he said, “they can get it.” 

Ballenger also said that WCPS staff are having conversations with community partners to help provide programming and other resources that can help educate students about the dangers posed by vaping.

“We are providing a weekly caller to parents that will provide you with the information concerning vaping and drugs,” he said during the School Board meeting. “We are also increasing our discipline for bringing such devices to school.”

Ballenger urged parents and guardians to “sit down with your teen and have that conversation to discuss this issue.”

Click here to watch the Warren County School Board Meeting of September 6, 2023.