Extreme move to tackle alarming vaping trend in Sydney schools

The vaping craze is taking hold in local schools across Sydney’s North Shore and eastern suburbs, and it’s casting a pall over kids’ futures.

Schools and health professionals are becoming increasingly concerned about the rise in vaping among students and the potential impact on their health.

Despite being banned in NSW, the use of e-cigarettes (commonly called vapes) is widespread in schools throughout Sydney’s North Shore and eastern suburbs.

Here’s how schools are taking action against the trend.

VAPING IN THE EAST

Waverley College is among the schools to have installed vaping detectors to try to combat the use of the battery-operated devices, which heat a liquid to produce a vapour that users inhale.

The college’s deputy principal – students, Gabrielle Smith, says devices were placed in student bathrooms before the school year began to act as a deterrent, and heads of house have been instructed to monitor bathroom areas more closely.

Waverley College deputy principal – students, Gabrielle Smith.

“We are also investing considerable time and resources into education and research programs to help students make better choices later on in life,” she says.

“We continue to raise awareness of this issue in our college assemblies and weekly newsletter.”

The school’s Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) faculty has also been involved in a study with Sydney University’s Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use for the past four years, and will take part in a new Sydney University study specifically looking at vaping this year.

Randwick-based Ted Noffs Foundation clinical services manager Kieran Palmer, who runs counselling services and education workshops in the eastern suburbs, says vaping is an emerging issue.

“We see it come up a lot,” he says. “It seems vaping is very, very popular at the moment among the young people that we work with, and schools are struggling quite a bit with the issue.

Ted Noffs Foundation clinical services manager Kieran Palmer. Picture: John Appleyard

“It definitely seems to be more prominent than what tobacco was for young people. Over the past 10 years, we have done remarkably well with the decline in cigarette use with young people, but vaping seems to be going the other way.

“It’s quite attractive for young people with the flavouring and packaging, and it’s pretty unregulated to market. There seems to be misinformation as young people don’t think there’s nicotine in it.”

While he hasn’t tried vaping himself, 15-year-old Bondi student Hamish says he knows lots of teenagers in the eastern suburbs who do it regularly.

“I’ve been against cigarettes since I can remember and, to me, they are essentially the same thing,” he says. “If I had to choose, I would choose vaping because I think it’s cheaper.”

Vapes are widespread in schools throughout Sydney suburbs.

VAPING IN THE NORTH

Knox Grammar at Wahroonga is among the schools that have installed vape detectors in bathrooms to try to combat the problem.

Dr Sylvia Guenther, a facilitator of the GPs in Schools program in Sydney’s north, regularly speaks to Year 11 students in small groups on subjects such as mental health, sexual health, drugs and alcohol.

She has been involved in the program since 1996 and says the use of the battery operated devices — that heat a liquid to produce a vapour that users inhale — has become a much bigger problem in the past few years.

“Some things haven’t changed, but vaping is certainly something that has changed,” she says. “Less young people tell me they are smoking, but vaping has really increased. It’s certainly a significant issue. Nicotine is such a strong, addictive drug and I think there’s high concentrations in a lot of vapes. They know all the risks and they still keep doing it. When I ask why, sometimes they say peer pressure or if your friends are doing it, you do it too. It’s easy to access and cheaper than cigarettes.”

Dr Guenther says regulations need to be enforced and it needs to be harder for young people to access.

Dr Sylvia Guenther from GP's In Schools. Picture: John Appleyard

“They do get a lot over the internet I think,” she says. “It’s so difficult to enforce it.”

Chatswood teenager Claudia says young people are more likely to take up vaping because they come in different flavours and have a pleasant taste.

“It’s more convenient to smoke a vape rather than a cigarette,” she says. “You don’t usually smell after vaping, and you can just take one puff rather than smoke a whole cigarette. Vapes are also cheaper.”

But the 19-year-old is also aware that vaping is more serious than smoking because you don’t know exactly what is in it.

“We are yet to see the long-term effects it has on us, but due to the ‘fruit’ flavouring and taste, I think many young people don’t think it will have lasting negative health effects,” she says.

She also believes vapes should be kept out of public places, like cigarettes.

“But it would be very hard to police it because you can easily take one quick puff and the vape smoke evaporates quickly,” she says.

RAISING AWARENESS

The NSW government launched the ‘Do you know what you’re vaping?’ information campaign last year to raise awareness of the harmful chemicals in vapes, including those found in cleaning products, nail polish remover, weed killer and insecticide, dressed up in hundreds of flavours and bright colours to be attractive to kids.

NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant says it is important for parents to talk to their children about the risks of vaping.

“We are encouraging parents to be aware of the dangers vapes pose and to be on the lookout for devices, which could look like USB sticks, pens or highlighters,” she says.

“Vapes contain dangerous ingredients which could cause irreversible damage to the health and development of young people. There is no such thing as a safe vape. We are also aware that there are links between mental health concerns and vaping among young people.”

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant. Picture: Newswire/Ben Symons

A study conducted by the George Institute for Global Health Australia in 2022 also found that teachers and other school staff were worried about the impact of rising e-cigarette use on student mental health and performance.

More than a third of those working with primary school-aged children said at least some of their students had used e-cigarettes, and a quarter said this had increased in the past two years.

The institute’s Professor Simone Pettigrew says while most of the research comes from overseas, evidence suggests the use of vapes is growing in this age group locally.

Simone Pettigrew of The George Institute for Global Health Australia.

“Our study shows some concerning trends in e-cigarette use in Australian schools – particularly primary schools – that need to be nipped in the bud to prevent future harm,” she says.

The study also suggests younger students have different ways of accessing e-cigarettes.

“We found that according to their teachers, primary school students were more likely to get e-cigarettes from their siblings or to take them from home without permission,” Pettigrew says. “Secondary school-aged children were reported to be more likely to get someone else to buy them for them, receive them from a friend aged over 18, or via the internet.”

But despite the increase in e-cigarette use, only one-third of those surveyed reported that their schools had a vaping policy or provided vaping-prevention education for students.

“Our study suggests many Australian students can readily access e-cigarettes and that vaping in schools is becoming more prevalent, including in primary schools,” Pettigrew says. “School staff need greater support to address student e-cigarette use and prevent the negative consequences associated with vaping by children at school and beyond.”

BEWARE THE EFFECTS

The Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia chief executive Dr Chris Duncan says schools are deeply concerned about the speed with which vaping has been adopted, and by the potential harm to students.

Dr Chris Duncan.

In a submission to the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s consultation on reforming the regulation of nicotine vaping products, he says, as well as investing in vaping detectors, schools are trying to warn students about the dangers of vaping via campaigns such as Lung Foundation Australia’s ‘Unveil What You Inhale’, NSW Health resources and visiting experts in drug and alcohol education.

But Dr Duncan says this is not enough to combat the attitude among young people that vaping is “cool” or less harmful than smoking cigarettes.

“Despite schools’ best efforts, students’ willingness to experiment with vaping appears to be increasing and schools are being challenged not only to counter students’ interest in vaping but to help meet the needs of students who may be suffering a serious and potentially fatal addiction,” he says.

The organisation’s Social Issues Reference Group says a national anti-vaping campaign targeted at adolescents is needed to send a strong and consistent message on the dangers of vaping and encourage them to refuse offers of vapes from friends or seek help if they are addicted.

It also says tighter regulation of the sale of vaping products is needed, along with surveillance of their promotion on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.

Sanctions should also be applied to the importation and sale of nicotine vaping products and restrictions applied to their contents and packaging.

Renee West.

Renee West, a PDHPE curriculum adviser for the NSW Department of Education, agrees vaping has become more of an issue in recent times.

“Vaping has probably been our biggest focus over the last 18 months, outside of consent,” she says. “Because it’s coming inside the school gates so much, schools are looking for support. With vapes, the target market is essentially young people.”

But West believes there is hope, with students becoming engaged in teaching and learning resources she’s helped create.

“We are getting young people to debunk the information that they are getting around vapes, generally from social media or friends,” she says.

“It’s trying to get them to question the accuracy and reliability of the sources and look at what’s happening now with vaping and what happened four or five decades ago with tobacco and be more discerning with the information that they’re getting.

“I think what works really well with young people is inquiring and questioning the information themselves and asking questions. They don’t want adults just to be the experts and tell them not to do something. It’s not effective.

“We’re getting them to start pulling apart the marketing and find the truth. That critical inquiry approach of investigating has been working well. They’re starting to put two and two together and realise there is a relationship back to cigarettes.

“They don’t like to find out that they have been tricked. We’re seeing it happen with climate change and consent – it’s students’ voices that are changing things.”

Originally published as Extreme move to tackle alarming vaping trend in Sydney schools