Four-year-olds caught vaping in WA schools but suspensions down

Twelve months since a vaping crackdown was flagged for West Australian public schools, the number of students caught has more than halved – but children as young as four are still getting their hands on them.

Children as young as four years old have been caught smoking e-cigarettes, however, only 789 students were suspended in the first semester of this year – with the second half tracking similarly – compared to 3337 across 2023 and 3630 in 2022.

Vaping rates in WA schools are down.Credit: Getty

“That is good but we want to do even better on that front, and we’ve got to stamp it out,” Education Minister Tony Buti told 9News Perth and WA Today.

Last November the state government introduced new policies to police vaping in schools, including barring students from school events if caught breaking the rules and providing educational resources and training for staff.

“We have mandated education on the harms of vaping for Years 5, 6 and 7, and I also wrote to every parent in WA who has a kid at school, alerting them to the harms and dangers of vaping,” Buti said.

“Some parents didn’t realise the dangers of vaping, and that was one of the reasons we wrote the letter, to say this is as bad as smoking and in some cases can lead to smoking.”

Buti’s sentiment is echoed by experts, some of whom believe the downward trend of suspensions has only seen student vaping move from school playgrounds and bathrooms, and onto the streets.

“The prevalence of vaping is really underestimated to be honest,” Respiratory Care WA chief executive Anne Hallam said.

“You walk down St George’s Terrace or any street on a weekday or weekend, there will be children vaping.

“It’s such an onslaught, and it’s so cool that if kids want to vape, they’ll vape. I do think it’s pushing out of the school environment and into other environments that the children feel safe in or where it’s an enjoyable experience.

“The fact that it is essentially odourless makes it really easy to hide from families, and parents are not able to navigate that with their adolescents.”

New federal and state government regulations mean vapes can only legally be sold with a prescription at a pharmacy, however, 9News investigations have found under-the-counter nicotine still floods Perth streets.