Over the past decade, an increasing number of children in the United States have been using electronic cigarettes.
Education professionals and health experts are making progress in the latest round of the fight against electronic cigarettes as the new school year begins.
Research on the health effects of e-cigarettes is continuing, but adverse effects are beginning to emerge.
Evidence suggests that teenagers who currently use e-cigarettes may turn to traditional smoking in the future, which is a troubling development in the significant progress made over the last few decades in reducing youth smoking. According to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association, those who use e-cigarettes may be at increased risk for asthma. Using e-cigarettes can also lead to respiratory diseases, arterial stiffness, high blood pressure, and difficulty sleeping. Even exposure to secondhand vapors from someone using e-cigarettes can pose a danger.
These concerns are even more complex in the environment of young people.
In a national survey conducted in 2021, nearly 60% of middle and high school students reported that they first tried electronic cigarettes because their friends used them. Friends are the most common way for teenagers to come into contact with e-cigarettes. Family members are another common source.
Helping children understand the risks of electronic cigarettes.
Jackie Michalski, Assistant Principal at Shenendehowa High School East in Clifton Park, New York, says that she has observed a decrease in the number of local teenagers using electronic cigarettes during the 2021-22 school year.
As people's understanding of it grows, it is sure to decrease," she said.
She and her colleagues have been promoting a continuous improvement mindset among students. The school organized an informational lecture for parents and students, with a focus on the potential health and psychological risks of using electronic cigarettes and other tobacco products.
During a recent meeting, local law enforcement officials advised parents to pay attention to changes in their children's attitudes or emotions, as well as how to detect signs of drug use in the home. Individuals who use electronic cigarettes may also experience increased thirst and nosebleeds, while parents may detect an unfamiliar odor they cannot identify, even if they have never seen the easily concealed products that do not produce smoke like traditional cigarettes.
Meanwhile, the response to students using electronic cigarettes on school grounds has shifted from punitive to supportive. While suspensions were once commonplace, educators now more frequently collaborate with parents, referring students to counselors and facilitating meetings with student groups, while helping to educate parents on effective strategies for addressing addiction and helping young people quit smoking. "Counselors are part of our team approach," Mihalski said.
Shenendehowa High School has implemented a program that involves students reading news articles and watching videos related to the use of e-cigarettes. Afterwards, they write a brief essay discussing what they have learned and how to better handle peer pressure.
The ultimate goal is to change behavior," said Mihalski. "We want to inform students that electronic cigarettes have a significant impact on health, they can lead to addiction and may result in future use of other drugs.
Extensive initiative
Changing behavior is also one of the targets of several national anti-e-cigarette initiatives, which have had an impact on research so far. These include:
SmokeSCREEN, a video game designed by researchers at Yale University, aims to educate children on the dangers of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products with the goal of helping them completely avoid using e-cigarettes. This is Quitting, developed by the public health non-profit organization Truth Initiative, sends daily automated text messages from peers who have tried or successfully quit using e-cigarettes to individuals aged 13 to 24. CATCH My Breath, developed by the Texas A&M Health Science Center in Houston, provides parental education and classroom curriculum, including group discussions, goal setting, and group activities. A digital portal offers materials for schools, some of which are free, including teaching guides, presentations, and posters designed for different age groups. Additionally, the FDA has partnered with a publishing company to create a series of anti-e-cigarette informational resources for educators.
The Boston University, funded by the American Heart Association, has a center dedicated to preventing the surge of teenage e-cigarette use. One of the projects under this center is focused on developing and testing virtual reality interventions to help high school students avoid or quit e-cigarettes. Lead researcher Belinda Borrelli and her team have collaborated extensively with high school students to understand their views on current smoking cessation programs and to design engaging and effective new programs. The team is using their data to develop state-of-the-art virtual reality interventions for implementation in schools.
She stated that "it's important that the intervention doesn't feel 'school-like', and regardless of their motivations to quit smoking, teenagers must be involved.
The efforts of parents, educators, advocates, and public health officials against the use of electronic cigarettes seemed to gain momentum in June when the FDA ordered Juul Labs to cease sales and distribution of their products due to a lack of data regarding potential health risks. This action has been temporarily halted in both administrative and legal proceedings.
Michalski stated that if the popular Juul product among teenagers were to be ultimately removed from the market, it would be encouraging news. "If we can make e-cigarettes less easily accessible, I think it will be helpful.
Dr. Naomi Hamburg, the chief researcher and director of the BU Youth Electronic Cigarette Research Center, stated that strict regulation at the federal, state, and community levels is a crucial tool for reducing the use of all types of nicotine products.
She said, "We need to consider reducing the use of combustible cigarettes as our primary objective and limit or stop overall public health strategies for all teenagers using nicotine products.
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