‘Agitated and aggressive’: Queensland students are asking to leave class to smoke vapes

Queensland students unable to vape at school are becoming “agitated and aggressive”, asking to leave class to smoke prompting toilets to be locked.

Queensland students unable to vape at school are becoming “agitated and aggressive” and are asking to leave class to smoke prompting toilets to be locked, a major inquiry has shown.

A parliamentary inquiry into vaping has revealed the overall impacts e-cigarettes are having on Queensland schools and the measures being taken to address the scourge.

According to the inquiry, schools are reporting students being addicted to vapes and say it’s impacted on overall learning and routine.

Vapes confiscated by Queensland principals.

The impacts include students being “distracted, agitated, and at times aggressive” when they are unable to vape during the school day, and are “asking to leave class in order to vape”.

Other students have reportedly voiced concerns over “passive vaping” and spoke of a “fear” of using toilets in case they’re asked to dob in fellow students vaping.

According to a submission from the Queensland Secondary Principals Association, some schools have opted to lock amenities blocks, issue toilet passes and add extra supervision during break times and between classes.

Others schools have made upgrades to amenities blocks to ensure designs are less accommodating to vaping while some have installed vaping detectors, its submission read.

Association president Mark Breckenridge said only the schools with “significant” issues of vaping had chosen to lock toilet blocks.

Mark Breckenridge says the messaging around the harm of vaping is starting to take effect on young people. Picture: Josh Woning.

Vapes containing nicotine are being sold to minors. Picture: Supplied

Mr Breckenridge said students were slowly becoming more aware of the dangers that smoking e-cigarettes posed in a sign that the educational campaigns were working.

“Interestingly, principals tell me the students are starting to get the message, which is really heartening,” Mr Breckenridge said.

“The message around the uncertainty of what vapes actually contain, the chemicals in them and the potential harm that they can do.

“I think in combination with the educational campaigns and the way toilet blocks can be used certainly makes a difference.”

Mr Breckenridge stressed that parents and the wider community had a vital role to play in further educating young people on the harmful effects of e-cigarettes.

The inquiry highlighted an approach taken by AB Paterson College which introduced a “multi-layered” strategy to address the issue.

Principal Joanne Sheehy said it included incorporating information into its HPE program for students in Years 3-10, installing vape sensors in toilets and enabling students to anonymously report classmates vaping.

Ms Sheehy said it led to a marked decrease in the use of vapes between 2021 to 2023 and encouraged other schools adopt the strategy.