Marcus Belin, principal of Huntley High School, hugs a student at graduation. PHOTO COURTESY OF MARCUS BELIN

Student vaping is an issue that high school principals across the country are trying to navigate these days. Huntley High School in Huntley, IL, where I am the principal, is no exception. At our school of approximately 2,700 students, it’s a huge challenge. Vaping affects our students’ physical health, mental health, academic performance, and overall well-being. At a time when our administrators, teachers, and other staff are already stretched thin, we must constantly keep an eye out for vaping and, at times, also serve as drug counselors, which is something we are not equipped or trained to do.

Vaping isn’t new. We saw it before COVID, but during the pandemic, the number of kids vaping increased. Kids resorted to a lot of different things during COVID as a coping mechanism. They were stuck at home and disconnected from friends, so I get why they did it. But it’s reached the point where now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimate that more than 2 million middle and high school students use e-cigarettes.

One problem is that we’ve got a lot of students who are exposed to it because they see their parents and other adults vaping. It might look cool, and it smells fruity, so they want to try it too. But the risk is that once kids dive into it, they can get in deep, and the addiction can take over very quickly. They have so much access to it, and it’s cheap; all they have to do is find someone who has something and take a hit. If your system isn’t used to it, one or two hits are more than enough to get high and become addicted.

Acknowledging the Problem

When it comes to combating vaping, the first thing we need to do is acknowledge that we have a problem. Unfortunately, we have parents who know their kids do it, and they are sometimes the most vocal and work hard to cover up the fact. As a principal, I spend a lot of time telling our kids, and our parents, and our community that it’s a problem.

At the same time, we must support our students who need help. We need to make sure our students understand that it’s OK to recognize that vaping might be a problem and that help is available. I don’t want to condemn a kid who might have only tried it one time. But once we normalize the idea that asking for help is OK, no matter what students experience, that’s a huge positive step. Our budgets are limited, but we can still try to connect kids to resources and counselors who can shape their behavior and help them avoid or overcome addiction and put it behind them.

Finding a Solution

Because vaping is occurring in schools, there are a lot of ideas—and actual products—out there that are intended to help curb it. Vape detectors in bathrooms are an approach that some schools have tried, but I’m skeptical. Some schools have tried vape detectors in bathrooms, but they are an expensive solution. They also don’t help solve the issue of figuring out how to help students who vape.

When a school has as many students as we do, it’s easy for a student to pop into the restroom with a group, take a drag off a THC vape pen or other device, and then hop back out during a five-minute passing time between classes. That’s not to say that our administrative team and other staff don’t monitor hallways and bathrooms. You can find us walking into a bathroom and saying, “Hey! What’s going on?” when a group of students is congregating in the bathroom. We’ve caught students in the act of vaping and in possession of drugs, and I do think it deters this activity because they never know when we might come in.

 We’ve also tried to mobilize our students to help. If they don’t like seeing their classmates vaping and want to see change, we tell them that we need their help. That can mean using our confidential reporting system, which just requires a simple text message. The moment we see an alert, someone on my leadership team can be there in less than 30 seconds.

No school has enough resources to deal with this as comprehensively as they would like, but I can say that programs like VapeEducate, which is an in-depth online curriculum, have helped some kids kick their addictions. A lot of what works with students is developing relationships with them—having conversations and then connecting them with programs and resources, as well as tapping into our communities to help.

The Need for Curbs on Marketing to Youths

We can’t ignore the business side of the vaping problem either. Lots of people are making tons of money off this, and some of the marketing really preys on minors. As I wrote in a letter to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year in conjunction with a hearing they held on youth vaping, “While using these products is a personal choice, it’s unacceptable to subject kids to dangerous substances with enticing flavors and attractive packaging. These products are causing serious harm, and it is imperative to protect our youth from such deceptive marketing tactics.”

Unfortunately, companies that target students often receive little more than a warning letter. NASSP and other educators’ groups are calling on the Food and Drug Administration to aggressively use enforcement tools, including civil monetary penalties, no-tobacco-sale orders, product seizures, import restrictions, injunctive actions, and criminal prosecutions. Those steps would be a big help in keeping these products out of the hands of our youths.

Rather than sending a piece of paper that companies can ignore with impunity, these powerful measures would clear the market of illegal and youth-appealing products causing the nicotine epidemic. This is a public health crisis, and our students’ health and future depend on our collective efforts. I encourage you to reach out to your local legislators to have a conversation about vaping and the impact it’s having on your school culture and the overall health and well-being of your students.

Marcus Belin, EdD, is the principal of Huntley High School in Huntley, IL, and a member of the NASSP Board of Directors.