By LAURA HAMMACK, guest columnist
According to the 2018 Indiana Youth Survey, across the state of Indiana, 16.9 percent of students in Grades 7 to 12 indicated that e-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among teens. As a comparison, only 5.7 percent indicated traditional cigarettes.
Additionally, the same survey indicated that nicotine consumption by vaping increased sharply in 2018 for 12th-graders from 19.7 percent in 2017 to 28.6 percent in 2018.
Unfortunately, these statistics confirm that a vaping epidemic is taking place across our state, and I am sorry to report that the student population in Brown County Schools is not immune. Our corporation nurse, Holly Gordon, confirmed that e-cigarette usage is one of the most concerning issues that faces our health services program.
To show the impact of how significant of a crisis we are facing, in 2017-2018, eight students from Brown County High School were referred for intervention related to tobacco use. As of Nov. 5 of this year, 29 students had already been referred. All but one of those 29 were for e-cigarette/vaping use.
As we have seen the number of e-cigarette/vaping incidents skyrocket, the district has implemented preventive and responsive strategies to try to increase awareness about the dangers of e-cigarette usage. For every student that is referred for a tobacco violation, our corporation nurse deploys the ASPIRE curriculum, offered by the MD Anderson Cancer Center. This curriculum is evidence-based and tackles the range of traditional cigarettes and emerging products such as e-cigarettes, JUUL and synthetic marijuana.
Additionally, our corporation nurse and one of our physical education teachers started a youth Drug-Free Council at Brown County High School. This council meets weekly and is working to prevent the onset of substance use disorders through peer awareness campaigns. This group recently hosted the Red Ribbon Week events for Brown County High School and are specifically targeting the use of e-cigarettes. It is inspiring to see so many of our student leaders taking a stand on this issue and advocating for the health and wellness of their peers.
We begin preventative efforts in the elementary school through our health and wellness curriculum. Our school nurse has reviewed our health curriculum as the leader of our district’s Healthy Brown County Council wellness committee and is pleased with the level of education regarding traditional tobacco use as well as e-cigarettes. However, we clearly need to do more.
Our students are bombarded with advertising through a variety of media that make e-cigarette use appear as an almost “healthy” option to smoking cigarettes. The Indiana Youth Institute recently published a data brief where they indicated that the top reasons why teens use e-cigarettes are a friend or family member uses the product (39 percent), availability of flavors (31 percent), and the belief that vaping is less harmful than other forms of tobacco (17.1 percent).
I am very pleased to report that students who are tired of being around students who are vaping at school are increasingly reporting the behavior to our school administration. We have an anonymous electronic tip line that is used about once a week where students can submit tips for school administration to investigate any behaviors of concern. E-cigarette usage has been the topic that is been most frequently reported over the past school year.
We are investigating the deployment of sensors in bathrooms and other areas of the schools to alert to e-cigarette usage. These sensors are still a relatively new technology and are quite expensive, so we are trying to make the best decisions regarding efficiencies of usage.
We teach our students that the easiest way to quite using tobacco products is to never start. It’s an easy thing to say, but it is so challenging for adolescents to ignore the allure of very powerful advertising that is targeted directly to them. We are committed to teaching our students not only about the harmful effects of the drugs themselves, but to also be aware of the powerful media campaigns that are specifically targeting the adolescent brain.
It is so hard to be a young person today. The schools stand ready to support them with prevention and evidence-based response practices for healthy decision making during the school day. Similarly, we are so grateful when our families work together with us as partners in this effort. It is then when we notice substantial impact.
I sincerely appreciate the comprehensive coverage of this important topic from the Brown County Democrat, educators at Purdue Extension, and the assistance in the development of this column from our corporation nurse, Holly Gordon.
Laura Hammack is superintendent of Brown County schools. She can be reached at 812-988-6601 or [email protected].
