OK, I will get alot of hate for this,and for thinking with my brain not my Facebook news page. I'm gonna post as the devils advocate because I'm really tired of the panic-attack vibe of most posts regarding nicotine and vaping. keeping young people away from vapes before they've become vapers is a good idea. once they're hooked, be smart, not aggressive.
first and foremost that nicotine vaping is MUCH safer than smoking drags when the person is educated on how to use a vape and juice. the problem with kids is that they are not educated on how to vape properly and rely on teen peers to tell them do's and dont's. also that the American media is in a frenzy over vape news because it generates clicks but please do not jump to conclusions: the real danger of vaping is THC oil, which is not what kids typically vape. but if they are vaping THC oil they must stop immediately. oil (and oil thickener) is not safe to vapour and will cause death by pneumonia as well as other serious lung issues. it is the very reason people are dying. nicotine e-juice is "safer" than cigarettes in that it is not toxic but does have health risks e.g Popcorn Lung. children who have become addicted to vaping should be educated properly on vape devices, differences between regulated & modded, PG vs VG, and what links have been found between the temperature of the hit and the release of bad chemical vapour (aka don't overheat juice). they should also be educated on how vape coils work, how dry hits happen, why it's dangerous for dry hits to go by undetected (sometimes kids can't taste it) and so forth. I could write books about this stuff but I won't, google will do it justice. actually, even more of a sad thing is that Google won't entirely give you a perfect picture of what vaping is and how to vape safely. if the government focused their resources on educating people about vaping, rather than using fear and panic, the world would be a much safer place and children wouldn't seek out the "forbidden cool thing".
if your teenager is vaping nicotine there is no need to "bunker down" and ban all vaping re: health effects. when you ban a teenager from doing something, they will turn to their peers instead of you and for a very long (perhaps even into late adulthood) they will no longer trust you with their personal vices. you will not see into their private life and you will only be a helicopter parent fighting a war in an effort to gain control of your adolescent child. the more you struggle with eachother, the more distant and secretive the child will become. you, as a parent, need to find a sweet spot of compromise, understanding, and fairness, letting the child make his/her own decisions, yet still encouraging them to do the right thing by you. letting them know how it makes you feel that they vape, and reminding them of why it worries you. NOT freaking out and going Tiger-mom. they are not doing cocaine, it is not meth, it is liquid nicotine which many kids favour for anti-anxiety effects and it can help them concentrate if they have a hyperactive mind. that's why kids get addicted. it is basically a stimulant disguised as a chill pill. and once the it becomes unavailable, life suddenly becomes dramatic and stressful,so they continue to chain vape. I'm not saying to become an enabler e.g buying them vape kits. do not buy them anything. they must get a job and use their own money for their vices. they must learn that responsibility. I would however watch what juices they are vaping. if they are vaping dodgy crap because they don't want to buy a $30 bottle of real e-juice, you need to be on top of that and discipline them for not being responsible.
now onto vaping.
a common misconception is that nicotine vaping encourages children to start smoking cigarettes. FALSE. it is when the child is banned from having nicotine e-juice that they then start seeking the effects elsewhere and thus turn to friends who have cigarettes. if a person, nevertheless a child, has never smoked in their life, and only vaped, I guarantee that they will HATE their first cigarette and they will be dying for some liquid nicotine instead. cigarettes are very different from vaping. they are stinky, ill-flavoured, make you feel like you have an everlasting cold. your chest tightens up when you first start smoking and you start feeling the toxic side effects almost immediately. nobody enjoys becoming a smoker in the 21st century when there are alternatives available. ban those alternatives and you corner people into the arms of the tobacco industries who are filling their pockets with money and the government is benefiting from the tax alone. seriously, do a Google search on how much money the government makes from smokers tax per year and think about how much of that money is used to help people (none of it). it is pure $$$ being made hence why politically-owned media outlets are going crazy over vape news. vaping doesn't have smokers tax and thus doesn't make the government any money. that's my hint to you if you wanna dig deeper on that subject.
fact #2: nicotine tolerance resets at bedtime. when you sleep, the tolerance you built up during the day will generally reset. your first nicotine hit of the morning is a big one. the hit becomes less and less effective but it always resets after a good night's sleep. this has given some people the illusion that nicotine helps them sleep. it doesnt: it just makes you think that.
fact #3: vaping is NOT safe. it is NOT "healthy" because it is "only vapour". vaping requires the heating of METAL to vapourise the juice. do you think inhaling hot metal elements is safe? it's not. this is why is important to teach and teach and teach. vaping must be done at a safe temp. and it must NEVER be dry.
BUT vaping as a way to quit smoking is excellent. vaping as a way to avoid other drugs, better so. vaping, and I mean pure unbotched vaping (just nicotine juice) is not the end of the world. it is a much better alternative to other drugs, it is NOT a gateway. kids will vape whether you like it or not; some kids will turn their nose up and refuse to join a fad. we have no real control over it; only moderation, education, and guidance. keeping them on track, not allowing them to become involved with drug dealers which is the real problem. taking a kids vape away, you may as well send them off on an adventure behind your back to find some drugs. if you can educate your kid and keep them away from vapes in the first place you will save yourself the trouble of having to compromise.