Geelong five-year-old ‘mimics’ adults by vaping at school

A “disturbed” Geelong father has described the moment he learned his young son had tried vaping at school, “mimicking” the behaviour of adults he’d seen.

A Geelong father says his five-year-old son is still coughing more than a week after trying out vaping at school.

The father said his sons, five and seven, tried out a vape when a schoolmate, seven, took one from his parents and brought it to school.

He said the children “acted on curiosity” and tried the e-cigarette.

“They were just mimicking behaviour they’d seen adults doing,” he said.

“My five-year-old (who has a predisposition to chest infections) still has a cough.

“To say I’m an upset father, a concerned parent, is an understatement.”

The father said he has taken his youngest son to a doctor, to no avail.

“The doctor pretty much said ‘he’s going to be okay, but I can’t tell you much more because I don’t know what he’s inhaled’,” he said.

“I’ve got the vape they tried … there’s no ingredients listed on it.

“I’ve since looked online about vaping … there’s an array of chemicals that have no business entering a five or seven-year-old’s lungs.”

The father said it was “quite disturbing” how easy the vaping device is to use.

He said he is “appalled” there is no child safety mechanism on the device.

“It’s ready to go, all you have to do is suck on it,” he said.

“Regardless of whether vaping’s safe or not, we’re not protecting our kids.”

The father said there are “so many failings” around vaping when it comes to parents’ awareness, and warnings to children.

Barwon Health emergency director Dr Belinda Hibble said the health sector was still studying the impact of vaping.

“There have been a series of cases of both lung disease and deaths due to vaping overseas, so we are very concerned about the potential for this locally,” Dr Hibble said.

“We also know that vaping usually leads to cigarette smoking in adulthood, which is well

known to cause serious harms to our community.”

Corangamite MP Libby Coker called on the federal government on Thursday to “immediately” tighten legislation and regulations to protect children.

Labor member for Corangamite Libby Coker. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

“The current weak regulatory restrictions … are clearly not working, and vaping and vaping products are now getting a firm grip among children under 18 and in our product market,” Ms Coker said.

“These products are advertised all over the internet, and they are designed with packaging directly appealing to children.”

Ms Coker said there should be “a complete ban” on advertising vaping products or “the strictest possible” advertising laws.

Originally published as Geelong five-year-old ‘mimics’ adults by vaping at school