To wonder why vaping is ‘cool’

[Tengreen]

Dd is 13. I know a lot of her peers are vaping. Estimate around 1/4 + of the year group.
When I asked her about it her perception is that most of the ‘cool’ people vape and vaping ‘might’ make you cool if you’re not already.

But I don’t get what is cool about it. It looks pathetic to me.

She says she’s not interested in being cool but she is prone to making poor choices so although I’d be very disappointed it wouldn’t surprise me if she at least tried it at some point .

I’m pretty sure she’s completely anti smoking because of the health risks and I have some idea of how to guide her when it comes to alcohol but this vaping has thrown a bit of a curve ball.
Any insights into what the attraction is and how to make sure she doesn’t get sucked in (I’m happy with that pun 😂) would be greatly appreciated

Unlike cigarettes they can do it on the school bus and even in lessons when the teacher’s back is turned, in the toilets and changing rooms, colours, flavours like sweets. They are clearly being marketed at children. Since covid it seems that it is really popular amongst year 7-9 (age 11-14). I believe also younger. They are already vaping when they arrive in year 7. Pretty tragic. It is easy to take a lot more nicotine via vape because they can be used non-stop, they are much more convenient than cigarettes. Doesn’t seem like much is being done to protect children from it.

It's 21st century smoking behind the bike sheds, I started smoking at school age 13 because I wanted to fit in. Give it a couple of years & it will be something else.

Ok the alcopop comparison makes more sense.
they don’t all contain nicotine do they?
Are these kids actually getting addicted as well as trying to fit in/liking the taste? That’s even worse.

www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/45182794

www.gov.uk/government/publications/vaping-in-england-evidence-update-february-2021/vaping-in-england-2021-evidence-update-summary

I always thought smoking and now vaping was a dirty habit. Luckily my dh is the same. It's not cool at all.

It looks shite. With your gnarled hands clasping a dope pipe sucking in that gunk surrounded by weird smoke. At least cigarettes looked cool - I watched my mum die of lung cancer so I know that they aren't cool before you start.
The smell is disgusting. Like one of those cheap crappy car air fresheners you get in a petrol station.
I hate seeing kids use them. At least if they looked cool you understand them doing the stupid thing.

I'm glad to hear it's possible. I haven't seen it myself. Every person I know that vapes seems to have vaped for years. They don't seem to have any intention of giving up the vape.

It would be good to see some reports on how much nicotine ends up in your system vaping (after smoking). I suspect it's always more. So it just gives the x-smoker a worse addiction 9 times out of 10.

As somebody upthread said, not being able to smoke inside slows down the amount of nicotine people can take in but if you can vape when the teachers back is turned then there's no limit to the amount of nicotine a person can take in.

As for snide comments made to me that I'm a snob for saying it reminds me of cleaning ladies, well, it does.

Let me know when cleaning ladies in their 60s are used in advertising.

@mumsys I do think that schools need to be doing more, I think they are one step behind, I think we all are. Many parents and children are unaware of the risks. I think that there has been a big jump in the use among children in the past year and that the data, public health and schools haven’t caught up yet. Some parents seem to think it is as harmless as blowing bubbles.

If vaping is meant to help people give up smoking then it would be in plain packaging without flavours. I think it is meant to replace cigarettes as the new addictive habit to make money for tobacco companies.

Some teenagers are moving from vape to cigarettes when they need a nicotine fix and cigarettes are more easily available.

I think this is the best resource for parents

www.safeandsober.org/resources/dangers-teen-vaping/

As for snide comments made to me that I'm a snob for saying it reminds me of cleaning ladies, well, it does.

You are a snob, and in the places I have worked it wasn't the cleaning ladies who were vaping!

I've been working in schools for a very long time, smoking had really dropped out of favour and it was a very small percentage that were smoking.

Then vapes came along. Whilst they were first marketed as a way to quit normal cigarettes (and they seem to be useful in this regard) they are now marketed to encourage non smokers and in particular children to start vaping.

The flavours, the branding, the fact you can advertise (the local garage has Totally Wicked disposable vapes with a red devil sign and very relaxed age policy)

Now about 80% of year 9 and above vape (we had an anonymous survey at our MAT) we didn't ask those below y9 but from having to confiscate disposable vapes from Y8 and constantly having issues in the lower years toilets I'd imagine it is quite rife in the lower year.

If Popcorn Lung, or any other damaging side effect turns out to be true then this is going to be a national scandal.

Yes, because the mothers on mumsnet are the arbitrators of “cool”. How ridiculous, you must know that your child thinks many things are cool that you don’t and vice versa?! My mother thought a perm was cool, I straightened my hair into boar bristle quality. Girls these days think grey hair is cool, no 17 year old dyed their hair silver grey like grandma when I was that age.

that said, I obviously don’t agree with vaping for children.

I’m surprised they are legal, the disposal cheap ones are obviously geared towards kids with their array of flavours like sour apple, banana, pina colada etc, most contain nicotine and I’ve no idea if these can be recycled or just end up at landfill sites.

I read one 600 puff disposal vape is the equivalent of smoking 48 cigarettes.

This quote is from a letter published in the Guardian

“We cannot sit back and accept a blanket message from Public Health England that vaping is 95% less harmful than tobacco smoking because (a) nobody knows exactly what substances are in these liquids, although we do know, in direct contravention of EU regulations, they contain chemicals toxic to the lungs; (b) there is an epidemic of vaping-related chest disease and deaths in America and (c) it took over 30 years for the long-term harmful effects of tobacco to be appreciated.

Children and young people who use e-cigarettes are more likely to smoke tobacco. The 2016 US surgeon general’s report concluded that “e-cigarettes are unsafe in children and adolescents”. Public Health England is out of step with him, the European Respiratory Society and other international respiratory societies, the American Academy of Pediatrics, India (where vaping has been banned) and Australia (where a ban seems imminent).

We in the British Paediatric Respiratory Society advocate urgent health education targeted at children on the dangers of vaping. Children are the most important group to target if long-term health has any hope of improving. We also recommend medicinal-standard controls for the advertising and manufacturing of vaping products and tobacco. This is not currently the case.”

www.theguardian.com/society/2019/nov/26/vaping-poses-serious-threat-to-children

I’m assuming they’re all too young to have sat with relatives dying of lung problems caused by smoking. Sure, apparently vaping doesn’t cause issues but they said that about smoking once.

vaping has health risks too! Do some research and show her. The fact it smells and tastes nice makes it appealing and I know as a teenager I would have loved it!

At least its only disposable vape, and not vaping weed, or using nitrous oxide. It's not ideal and I'd have been disappointed if DS had started vaping to fit in, but I'd rather that. Vaping weed can set you back £75 for one oil capsule (and burns your throat when you use it), whereas a normal vape is £4 or so.

And that there is the problem. They cost pocket money and they are viewed as safe.

It's not the kids I blame, as others said what is forbidden is always desirable, it is the fact that advertisers have been allowed to target children, bright coloured packaging at child eye level, with child/teen friendly names and flavours.

Plus the inability of those in authority to realise that whilst they helped people quit cigarettes they are a gateway for children.

Isn’t it the disposable vapes that are causing illness in teens in America?

I think we will learn in years to come that vapes aren’t as ‘safe’ as we thought. Our lungs just need air and even that is polluted now.