‘Very scary’: Children as young as six caught vaping in Qld schools

Children as young as six have been suspended or expelled for vape and e-cigarette related incidents, with a shocking 620 cases logged in Queensland primary schools in just 18 months.

Children as young as six have been suspended or expelled for vape and e-cigarette related incidents, with a shocking 620 cases logged in Queensland primary schools in just 18 months.

New Education Queensland data laying bare the horrific impact of the vaping scourge on children can be exclusively revealed, showing even primary school students are not immune - sparking warnings of irreversible lung damage and nicotine-induced seizures.

From the beginning of 2023 to the end of Semester 1 this year, there were two vaping-related suspensions or expulsions of Year 1 students as well as 18 relating to Year 2 students and 31 associated with kids in Year 3.

Overall, there were 620 cases in primary school and 5998 in high school, with experts believing primary school-aged children in particular are accessing the vapes through parents and older siblings.

Kids as young as six are being caught vaping.

Royal Australian College of GP’s Acting Vice President Dr Ramya Raman said it was “very scary” children were vaping as it can cause long-term, often irreversible damage – and affect learning outcomes.

“Vapes contain hazardous aerosols in them in itself, including formaldehyde which causes irreversible lung damage, nicotine which is highly addictive and another one propylene glycol, which is very toxic to human cells,” she said.

“These chemicals can have negative effects on learning, behavioural development and attention span.

“Other health harms include lung injury, acute nicotine toxicity which can cause seizures, risk of burns and injuries and vaping long term is associated with the uptake of tobacco smoking and the risks that come with that too.”

Dr Raman said parents needed to stay “hyper vigilant” when it came to vaping and chronic coughing, or coughing up brown-coloured spit, were signs of lung damage.

“If there are any symptoms or concerns best to touch base with a GP so it can be reviewed and health consequences can be addressed,” Dr Raman said.

Schools have made inroads in addressing the crisis, with just 1027 vape-related suspensions and expulsion in all year levels so far this year compared to almost 5600 in 2023.

In 2023, there were 5069 incidents in high schools, with the worst cohort being Year 9 students with 1280 incidents.

Andy Stergou the Principal Sandgate District High School, with students L to R, Talitha Benton, Maya Newby, Kai Collis, talking about the declining use of vapes at the school. Photo: Steve Pohlner

Meanwhile, in 2024 so far there have been 929 incidents with Year 9 (223) and Year 10 (227) so far the highest.

Queensland Association of State School Principals (QASSP) President Pat Murphy said if young children were caught with vapes, it was likely due to parents not consciously supervising these items.

“Students have always found ways of accessing things such as cigarettes, that for their age they shouldn’t have,” he said.

“Primary school leaders are keen to work with health officials, so our young students aren’t influenced unduly.”

Some experts labelled a federal government policy rolled out from July 1 which banned the retail of vapes without a prescription as “naive”, saying educational programs were the key to the decreasing figures.

The state government invested $5m into a vape education program rolled out in schools from Term 1 this year, which experts believe has contributed to the decrease in incidents.

Griffith University program Blurred Minds aims to informing kids about vape marketing aimed at children and the severe dangers they pose.

Vape stores that are still selling vapes without a prescription. Picture: Liam Kidston

Blurred Minds Chief workshop facilitator Dr James Durl said students still expressed concerns regarding the number of vapes in schools during his workshops, despite the drop.

“There has been talk about also expanding this program to primary schools because it has come up a few times,” he said.

“ … especially because the marketing is appealing to young children with bright packaging and flavours.

“Their (the federal government) heart is in the right place by trying to get rates to go down by implementing bans, but I also see people who get access to them regardless whether that be because some local store imported them before the ban came through, or by other means.

“They (vapes) haven’t disappeared and I don’t want to be naive and say if it’s illegal they can’t get it which we’ve seen with cigarettes.”

Queensland Education Minister Di Farmer said the department was also reviewing and implementing changes to the current Alcohol and Other Drugs Education program delivered to students in Year 7 to 12 to develop knowledge around the harm and impacts of alcohol and drugs, which also includes vaping.

“The Miles Government invested $5 million to enable secondary students to access the Griffith University’s Blurred Minds online modules to address the issue of vaping by young Queenslanders,” she said.

“This innovative program has already started making a difference in schools and will continue to do so to highlight the dangers of vaping to a young person’s long-term health.

“Schools are best placed to understand what is most appropriate for their students. Every school has access to a range of resources and programs which can include from Cancer Council Queensland, Life Ed, the Lung Foundation Australia and school-based support staff including youth support professionals.”

A Department of Education spokesman said vaping was a broad and complex public health issue that requires a focused community-wide response – the solutions don’t start and stop at school gates.

“The Department of Education works actively to support students health and wellbeing in state schools,” the spokesman said.

“All Queensland state schools provide health and wellbeing education including Alcohol and Other Drugs education, as part of the delivery of the Australian Curriculum or through wellbeing programs.

“The department works with schools to support and empower young people to make healthy choices and prevent them from using these harmful products. Schools have access to a wide range of resources and programs to help.”

The Lung Foundation Spokeswoman Anna Hilton said vaping had become a gateway into tobacco smoking which can carry on through lifetime.

“It’s been an epidemic and medical professionalisms are crying out for help,” she said.

She said the foundation’s research had found one in five Australian children who try vaping will move on to using cigarettes.