Fu**ing Vapes

It's really not ok. I would ground too OP. I have a 15 yo DS and I wouldn't hesitate to ground him at 16 and beyond, he'll still be living in my house doing his GSCES and A levels and spending my money!

I wish they’d ban the added fruity etc smell. That may do more to discourage trying it. Im sure they’d appreciate attractive smell draws them in.

Yes they really do, it instantly makes you look like a chav.

Yanbu. I found out 14yo ds was doing it. It's hard to know how to approach it really. First time we spoke about it calmly, together, made a plan. But then when we discovered he was doing it again, we came down much harder. I know teens experiment and I'm not naive. But he's 14, still a child. He's also on medication for adhd, so have spoken with him about this too. He passionately loves sport and wants to be a PE teacher, so we've had some success motivating him to stay off it by focusing on the health benefits. We've also said that if he struggles to focus in class anyway, then vaping will make that worse. He's a good lad on the whole, but I never thought I'd be having these kinds of conversations with him at 14.

The alternative to your approach isn’t as you describe, the cool friend parent.

You could just say to him ‘stop being a bellend, vapes are minging and make you look like a scuzzy twat’.
…..and then move on.

Vapes should be recycled not put in household waste. They can cause serious fires.

Do parents not realise that grounding doesn’t really work? Did it work for you? What about having a conversation instead? I don’t get why people feel the need the ‘lose their shit’ instead of having a calm and honest conversation. None of us I bet were angels at 16.

I agree, they look really dumb as well, sucking on them like a dummy

Surely anything being “forced” into the lungs is going to be damaging to some extent?
How minimal do we really know it to be?

Why do we automatically cover our nose and mouth if there is something in the air that shouldn’t normally be there (smoke, fumes, dust, etc) Is this vape stuff not the same?

Not being goady, just curious.

In fairness once the Tobacco and Vapes Act passes later in 2025 - fully gone through the House of Commons and is at committe stage in the Lords. The government will open consultations to regulate vape packaging and the issues you've mentioned; targeting bright colours, imagery, branding to reduce appeal to children. Likely in the next couple of years will have to be much more like cigarette packing and have warnings on them.

It’s definitely a problem, and I do think it’s very different to smoking. Yes lots of kids try or used to try cigarettes, but not many actually started smoking because:

1. Your first cigarette was HORRIBLE, it’s not pleasant, you have to really train yourself to enjoy those until the nicotine kicks in
2. It was hard to hide, the smell if nothing else and you couldn’t smoke in school or in your bedroom, you had to leave the house to do it. Less convenient and again required some effort.

Vapes do taste nice, fruity, you can choose your flavour and you can do it anywhere. Lying in bed at night, in the toilets at school as is now happening! It’s so much more convenient and appealing and yes, it’s safer than cigarettes, but it’s still not great.

That said I do agree with others that there are worse things & that as kids get older you have to adjust your parenting style and keep communication open rather than just punishment.

I've never thought it was OK.

If my DD hadn't been already 18 and just days away from leaving home to go to university by the time I discovered it then I might well have dealt with it very differently. Grounding an 18 year old who will be moving out virtually immediately would have been pointless. Just keep it away from me and consider what an idiot you have been!

I don't think anyone is saying it is OK, it isn't. There are worse things though.

I wonder if there is a perception amongst some people that whilst nicotine is the main addictive substance in cigarettes, it does limited harm itself if taken in vape form because the carcinogens of smoke are not present.? That's not true of course, it causes heart rate to increase etc. and probably other things too.

No one has said its ok? What are you reading?

Flying off the handle will just make them hide it. Jesus.

Snus has been popular in Scandinavian countries since forever.

Vaping poses a minimal threat to health. Relax.

Crikey! Who came up with that?
That can’t be good for you!
I had honestly never heard of this, and thought it was “snuff” like old men used to have.
Sometimes, for me, ignorance is probably bliss!

There are some shite parents on here who clearly think this is ok. And no, not everyone smoked or drank under age either.

YANBU. I agree that they should never have been widely marketed in the first place, nor been allowed to introduce sweet flavours that are obviously going to appeal to teenagers. Definitely should have just been a tool used in the same way that eg nicotine patches are.

My DC are still primary-aged, but it is one (of many!!) thing I am worried about when they hit the teens.

My eldest is ND, and although she is impulsive, worries quite a lot about doing the right thing... However my youngest is very easily-led!

I can't remember the latest with the smoking bill... I know it got paused when Labour came in, but I'm hopeful that there will be more restrictions on them.

I have to agree. He'll hide it better next time.

They may have been asking because you sound super bored to be making such a huge stink about vapes.

Kids don't take up smoking / vaping / drugs because it's attractive. They take it up because it's taboo, forbidden, for adults, and so "cool". Smoking used to be the thing to do, and it's always been disgusting. Now it's considered disgusting by everyone to the point it's uncool, and vapes have replaced it as the cool thing grown ups can do.

You're making it worse making such an issue out of it. It's even cooler now.

I smoked and drank in the 00s. Fag's and booze weren't aimed at kids.

Kids experiment. Annoying as it is

Couldn’t agree with your more op. They’re blatantly targeting children/younger people.

Surprised at how many people are admonishing you for parenting. I would do the same in your situation and reiterate to son the effects.