Iowa recently passed new legislation, IAHF2677, that banned online sales and required vendors to obtain a license to sell vapes. These vapes are the cause of teens getting addicted to inhaling toxic chemicals that could ruin their lives permanently. From vaping in the bathrooms to sneaking it in their shirt sleeves, these students are using harmful nicotine products while on school grounds. Many people realized that smoking wasn’t good for them, but when vapes came out, they were advertised as better than cigarettes. They were supposed to be healthier, but in reality, they were the same but easier to sneak around with.

     Sherryl Paige is the Student Success Center Coordinator at the high school. She has been working at the school for 28 years and has been teaching for 36 years. One of her jobs at the high school is doing a sweep of the bathrooms to make sure no one is vaping. If someone is caught, she refers them to the office, and if the student has a vaping drive, they will get an automatic three-day suspension from school. But what can people do? It’s not like students are openly smoking. Paige said, “We have had many concerns about the issue of vaping. Obviously, the bathroom is a high level of where the infractions take place. Teachers can only control so much of what happens in the bathrooms. Students can inform teachers if they see students vaping, but that puts them in a compromising position.” Vapes can cause many problems like lung cancer, damage, and asthma. But they also have effects on the people around them. Secondhand smoking is also very dangerous because one is inhaling the same chemicals that cause cancer.

     Many students all over the school probably know about the vaping problem, but what do these teens think about it? Story Smith, sophomore, is in both Green Bandana and Take Charge and only really noticed vaping during her freshman year. Smith is aware of the problem and hears about it in school. She said, “Something the school can do about vaping is get more adults to watch over the bathrooms and teachers being more strict about passes.” Kids smoking doesn’t come out of nowhere. There are many reasons why people start to vape including peer pressure, friends or family, or they think it will make them feel better. They think if they are really stressed out, vaping can solve all of the problems the world has. Vapes contain a ton of horrible chemicals such as formaldehyde, nicotine, and metal, so how are these things calming or relaxing?

     E-cigarettes can ruin people’s lives, but they still smoke them. Do they see what problems they can cause or do they just not care? Kids shouldn’t inhale metals into their bodies, and they shouldn’t bring the devices to school and hide in the bathrooms in order to smoke them, but they do. So what can other students do to help the problem? Paige said, “If you see something suspicious and you are uncomfortable with going to the bathroom, report the incident. Use your voice, and tell students to knock it off. Talk to a trusted adult about your feelings and concerns.” Nobody should feel too uncomfortable to go to the bathroom, so if there is a problem, tell somebody don’t just ignore it because someone else might be in the same boat and won’t tell anyone. Vaping is bad for people. It doesn’t matter if they are old or young and it doesn’t matter if they are athletic or not because they’re putting the same bad chemicals into their lungs.