From middle school bathrooms, weekend parties, or even in the hallways between classes, a new trend has come among students: vaping takes hold over TCS. 

Vaping in young students is a growing concern for schools, parents, and health professionals all over the world. With easy accessibility to e-cigarettes, students are being welcomed to nicotine at a very young age. “No, I haven’t noticed an increase. It’s something that we are monitoring and we’re on top of as an administration, but no, I wouldn’t say that I’ve noticed an increase in recent years,” Mr. Lawrence, middle school principal, said.

Despite this, the school has taken preventative measures. 

Mr. Lawrence explained, “We reflect upon it in advisory, using that time to allow students to make good informed decisions. We also have hall monitoring to make sure it isn’t taking place.”

 When asked about disciplinary actions, he emphasized the seriousness of the issue: “If a student is caught, they receive a suspension. If it happens again, they could face a conditional matriculation.”

While the administration believes the problem is under control, some students gave their thoughts.

An anonymous middle school student shared that while vaping is not as popular as in high school, it does exist. “Not that much, only a few. I’ve heard that they have tried but don’t usually use it,” he said. According to him, students who vape do so in places where adults can’t see them: “If they do it, it’s mostly at parties and outside of school where neither parents nor teachers can see them.”

He believes peer pressure plays a major role: “When someone tries it, they don’t want to be the only one doing it, so they encourage others to also try it.” He also pointed out that many students underestimate the risks because they see older people vaping. “I think they don’t, because they see lots of older people doing it, so they think it’s better and harmless.”

To understand where this trend is going, we interviewed an anonymous high school student who said he vapes in his daily life. He first heard about it in fourth or fifth grade and started vaping in sixth or seventh grade, initially trying it just for curiosity. “It was a friend of mine who gave me the first puff, and from there it started snowballing,” he confeced.

This student also said that the effectiveness of school policies is not the best: “No, not a little bit. If they really wanted to drill it into students that vaping is bad, they would focus on educating younger kids. Starting in high school or at the end of middle school isn’t enough.”

In Colombia, studies show that vaping often begins in middle school. According to the National Youth Tobacco Survey, about 10.5% of middle school students have tried e-cigarettes, and the early exposure to the vapes has a significant increase in the risk of long-term addiction. Another study found that students who see other students vaping in school are more likely to try it, making stronger the social aspect of start vaping.

On another hand, many students buy vapes through delivery services like Rappi, as said by both the anonymus middle school student and Mr. Lawrence. This shows a loophole in regulations that are meant to prevent sales to minors.

Vaping among middle school students is a serious problem that, if is left uncontroled, can continue to long term nicotine addiction. While school policies, advisory lessons, and disciplinary actions exist, students indicate that these efforts may not be enough in some cases and its important to start teaching the risks at a very young age.

To effectively combat this trend, schools must Implement early and continuous education about vaping risks from a young age, strengthen enforcement of anti-vaping policies and improve monitoring, and address peer pressure by promoting anti-vaping social norms.

Vaping is not just a high school problem, it’s starting earlier than many realize. The question is: Will schools take stronger action before it becomes an even bigger crisis?