Share your experiences with youth vaping in our schools, communities
Updated: September 8, 2023
As registrar and curriculum coordinator at Kohala Middle School on the northern tip of Hawaiʻi Island, Wendy Nickl sees and assists with many investigations involving student vaping at the school.
“In one incident, when we had to help support a student and talk to him about what was happening, he had seven to eight vapes in his possession,” Nickl said.
In 2019, nearly one in five, or 18% of, public middle school students in Hawaiʻi reported that they use electronic cigarettes, or vaping products. The statistic rises to one in three, or 30.6%, for public high school students.
Educators say the youth vaping epidemic is only getting worse.
Nickl said, “It’s just shocking to me how middle school students have such easy access to devices. They get them through online sites from older relatives, cousins, friends, and students have told me that they will steal devices from adults in their homes when things are left unattended.”
John Fitzpatrick, a teacher at Kūlanihākoʻi High on Maui, says student vaping is a problem at Maui Waena Intermediate, where he taught for five years.
“It’s nearly impossible to police the students because they’ll go to the bathroom to vape, and you can’t follow them into the bathroom and see if they’re vaping or not. Or their teachers are writing on the whiteboards, and they’ll vape behind their back, and if the other students don’t tell you, you don’t know that that’s occurring,” he said.
Educators say the products’ fruit and candy flavors are to blame. Students use body sprays to mask their usage on campus.
Tiffany Edwards Hunt, student activities coordinator at Keaʻau Middle School on Hawaiʻi Island, said, “You kind of feel gaslit at the same time where the student will be like, ‘No, miss, it’s my spray! How dare you suggest that I’m vaping? Because I just like to carry around my spray and spray at random and over excessively in the classroom? What is your problem right now?’”
Hunt said, “You’re just like, wait a minute, you and I both know that that’s not what’s going on here. But then you’re in this position of fighting a battle when you’re supposed to be teaching a lesson.”
Educators say the youth vaping epidemic has grown larger than schools can handle, and increased penalties will only make things worse.
Richard Stange, an English language arts teacher at Mililani Middle School on Oʻahu, said when three students were caught vaping on a class field trip last school year, “they were suspended for a number of days, and that suspension led to an unfortunate loss of classroom instruction.”
Stange said suspensions aren’t the solution because they lead to learning loss and “I don’t believe that that’s always a deterrent. Some students might look at that as simply a day off from school.”
Educators also say attempts to police vaping in schools can have wider-reaching detriments. One wrote, “My son goes to a middle school in the Central Oʻahu District, and at his school, the bathrooms were locked after reports of students vaping in them. The effect of that impacted everyone because no one could use them anymore.”
In this video, Hawaiʻi educators reflect on their experiences with youth vaping at school and the harm vaping causes on their physical and mental health and academic performance. View the transcript here.
Lawmakers need to step up and hold the industry accountable
Educators say current restrictions aren’t working, and the burden to manage our youth vaping epidemic can’t be placed solely on schools. Lawmakers have the power to protect our students by holding the tobacco industry accountable.
Lawmakers need to stop tobacco companies from using predatory practices to target youth, like creating products in fun flavors and shapes that can be easily concealed.
Stange, a Mililani Middle teacher, noted, “They’re sold in kiosks, in the middle of aisles in shopping malls, in which children walk past and they see it, and it’s planting a seed in their head when they walk past.”
To start, lawmakers need to change state and county laws so that:
- E-cigarettes fall under the same restrictions and regulations as regular tobacco products.
- All flavored tobacco products, including menthol, are banned to reduce their appeal and protect our keiki from a lifetime of addiction.
Hunt, Keaʻau Middle student activities coordinator, is challenging lawmakers to step up.
“We need someone to step up and be courageous enough to regulate this industry, to say, ‘Enough is enough. You have made enough money off of our children,’” she said.
Hunt said, “We need a hero in the story, and it’s going to be with our lawmakers. I’m wondering which lawmaker wants to be the hero.”
What Hawaiʻi educators are saying
“My son goes to a middle school in the Central Oʻahu District, and at his school, the bathrooms were locked after reports of students vaping in them. The effect of that impacted everyone because no one could use them anymore.”
“More than the harmful physical effects (shortness of breath, difficulties walking up the stairs, etc.), I see a lot of the negative social effects that vaping has had. When teachers take vapes away and send students to the office, they sometimes find that the vape was actually a parent’s, and the parent will get mad at the teacher for confiscating it. Students have gotten into fights over vapes, and it becomes a whole production of ‘covertly’ passing it to each other. All of this ends up hurting the students academically, because instead of focusing on the classroom material, their whole focus remains on how to get their hands on a vape pen, how to pass it to their friends, how to charge it without getting busted, and how to get their next hit. It’s such a shame that kids are able to get their hands on such addictive products from such a young age, and that they’re being marketed at kids.”
“I’m having to monitor bathrooms more. Students travel to spots that are farther from their classes to vape out of sight in more private bathrooms. They also leave the devices in there for kids from other classes to use, texting one another during class. Their addiction to nicotine is often so established, they want to leave class a few times each period, and while in class they are agitated.”
“Vaping models far too closely drug use behavior. The ʻcoolʻ factor is leading our kids down the wrong path to higher risk of drug abuse.”
“Because the devices are so small and look like USB flash drives, it is hard to detect if students have them. They also smell like perfume so you don’t know if it’s actually perfume or them using a vape.”
“Kids who are addicted to vaping ask to use the restroom, drink water, or go to their locker every period, and sometimes multiple times during the same period, so they can hit their puff in the hall or in secret. It’s a huge problem that results in missed class time and kids are more and more addicted to nicotine.”
“An honest conversation we have to have is why should I not vape when my family and/or friends do? If it’s so harmful, why do people do it? Additionally, on our campus, students are vaping in the classroom, but teachers don’t know or catch it because they’re unfamiliar with what a vape is. Students are bold, perhaps because vaping is easily done in public spaces—I’ve been to restaurants where people will pull them out.”
“We see suspensions all the time due to vaping, and students miss a lot of school when they’re caught. They vape in class and in all bathrooms, putting the health of others at risk as well.”
“Vaping is becoming more frequent among students from elementary to high school. It’s almost like a dare that our students think they need to try to see who can get away with using it in class without getting caught.”
Video transcript
Wendy Nickl, Kohala Middle registrar, curriculum coordinator, Hawaiʻi Island
I’ve had to witness and assist with numerous student investigations involving vaping at Kohala Middle School. It’s just shocking to me how middle school students have such easy access to devices. They get them through online sites from older relatives, cousins, friends, and students have told me that they will steal devices, you know, from adults in their homes when things are left unattended. In one incident, when we had to help support a student, and talk to him about what was happening, he had seven to eight vapes in his possession.
Richard Stange, English language arts teacher, Mililani Middle, Oʻahu
Last school year, we took our students on a field trip, and unfortunately three of our students were caught vaping. And once we got back to school, the students were automatically sent to the office and they were suspended for a number of days. And that suspension led to an unfortunate loss of classroom instruction, because they missed school. So in that sense, the vaping was directly linked to learning loss.
Tiffany Edwards Hunt, Keaʻau Middle student activities coordinator, Hawaiʻi Island
A lot of students don’t eat breakfast, and they skip the school lunch, and they have hungry brains. So we’re contending with that as educators where we have kids that are not eating, and then they’re going to the bathroom and they’re vaping. And so it does have a detrimental effect. You have heads down in the classroom, people completely checked out, or just straight up hangry. And then compounded with they need their fix, and they haven’t found a friend who’s going to sneak them the vape, and commonly, that exchange will occur in the classroom with your back turned or in the hallway, if you’ve got teachers who are not monitoring the halls, or if they just can’t get it, they’ll try to go to the bathroom as many times to see who’s in there. And so the craziness of it, is that we’re trying to teach them actual lessons and we have people with clipboards coming around analyzing what we’re doing as teachers, and yet, these students are there at school, not to get the school breakfast, not to get to school lunch, to get the fix from their buddies. The other thing is they’re borrowing each other’s stuff, which is really scary, because you never know what it’s going to be laced with. I can tell you that at my school, we’ve had like four different ambulance arrivals in the last year.
John Fitzpatrick, Kūlanihākoʻi High teacher, former Maui Waena Intermediate teacher, Maui
At Maui Waena, there’s kids that are like they infused the vape with THC. So our principal actually told us that a kid ended up getting sick because she was high after vaping and puked in her, in the principal’s office. It’s nearly impossible to police the students because they’ll go to the bathroom to vape, and you can’t follow them into the bathroom and see if they’re vaping or not. Or their teachers are writing on the whiteboards, and they’ll vape behind their back, and if the other students don’t tell you, you don’t know that that’s occurring. A lot of these vapes, they smell like cotton candy, so they’re flavored, and that cotton candy is actually targeted to youth, because it tastes good so the youth actually like it. And a lot of the girls have perfume that smells like cotton candy, so a lot of times in the classroom, you’ll think someone is vaping, and they’ll be like, ‘No, it’s just perfume.’
Tiffany Edwards Hunt, Keaʻau Middle student activities coordinator, Hawaiʻi Island
You kind of feel gaslit at the same time where the student will be like, No miss, it’s my spray. How dare you suggest that I’m vaping? Because I just like to carry around my spray and spray at random and over excessively in the classroom? What is your problem right now? Why do you have a problem with me spraying this perfume? And you’re just like, wait a minute, you and I both know that that’s not what’s going on here. But then you’re in this position of fighting a battle when you’re supposed to be teaching a lesson. It’s just so disturbing to me to see it, to see how prevalent it is, to see how it’s overriding the desire for an education, the desire to get a fix is more important than learning the math equation or the topic and history that we’re trying to teach.
Lillian Shaw, Kawānanakoa Middle special education resource and inclusion teacher, Oʻahu
The vaping industry is not held accountable for causing the harm of our students who are suffering in schools. It not only impacts their academic performance, but also seriously damages their physical and mental health. Students who are addicted to vaping, they tend to be distracted in class. They cannot concentrate. They are anxious and sometimes violent. Other students are afraid of them. It creates an unsafe learning environment for them.
Wendy Nickl, Kohala Middle registrar, curriculum coordinator, Hawaiʻi Island
It’s really sad when we have to talk to the parents. They’re like, what? My child is vaping? I didn’t know that. And then, so we have to support the families too with educational resources and information about guidance about the dangers of vaping. We have had to call in community partners, like the police and other supportive groups, to help educate our students on what exactly happens to your bodies when you’re vaping and how the industry purposely tailors products to make them want to, you know, try it like with the flavors. We spend a lot of precious school educational time informing our students about sales pitches, products, the media, that are designed to suck them in — and my pun is intended. Legislators need to really look at crafting laws that will tell the industry to stop creating these sweet, attractive, colorful things that will be so exciting for younger people, even if they can’t get it, they’ll try to find an avenue or way to get it.
Richard Stange, English language arts teacher, Mililani Middle, Oʻahu
Not only that, but the product is sold in shopping malls. They’re sold in kiosks, in the middle of aisles in shopping malls, in which children walk past and they see it, and it’s planting a seed in their head when they walk past.
John Fitzpatrick, Kūlanihākoʻi High teacher, former Maui Waena Intermediate teacher, Maui
Also some of these vapes look like USBs or pencils, so the industry has actually made it easier for kids to hide it and make it super cryptic, so it’s hard to catch.
Tiffany Edwards Hunt, Keaʻau Middle student activities coordinator, Hawaiʻi Island
Why are vaping companies making vapes look like little Shopkins toys and highlighters? And why are lawmakers allowing it? It’s a disgrace. And I find it infuriating as a mom that it’s happening, because I know how susceptible kids are, and you get the wrong kid sucking on one of those things, and they’re going to end up hospitalized or dead, and these companies don’t care. They just care about how much money they are making. And so that’s the point of law and order, is to regulate when capitalism runs wild. So I hope that the message that lawmakers hear is even though they may not see it because they’re not in the classroom, or they have really good children that do not do this sort of thing, I hope they understand that even good children are really good at hiding things.
John Fitzpatrick, Kūlanihākoʻi High teacher, former Maui Waena Intermediate teacher, Maui
It is clear that the industry is targeting our students and trying to get them addicted when they’re in third, fourth, fifth grade, and by the time they’re in middle school, they’re already addicted. So it is definitely an epidemic that we need to solve, and we need to make sure that we empower our schools and use all the devices and all the tools necessary to help kids not get addicted.
Tiffany Edwards Hunt, Keaʻau Middle student activities coordinator, Hawaiʻi Island
To me, it’s so scary that these kids are ingesting just straight up chemicals that we don’t even truly, we haven’t seen the full effect of what a lifetime of that looks like. You know, we see what a lifetime of cigarette smoking looks like but we don’t know what vaping looks like for a lifetime. And I think that’s really scary. We need someone to step up and be courageous enough to regulate this industry, to say enough is enough. You have made enough money off of our children. We need a hero in the story, and it’s going to be with our lawmakers. I’m wondering which lawmaker wants to be the hero.