Vaping at senior / secondary school

[Bosherto]

There seems to be a lot of vaping at my DD's school, she says mostly in the toilets at break times. I wondered if this is true at other schools and what the schools do to crack down. My DD's school seems to have staff on duty outside the toilets but it doesn't seem to be working if so many of them are vaping.

Very common. Zero tolerance at local Secondary, results in suspension

@toomuchlaundry how do they catch them? I am thinking if it is in the toilet how do staff go in there?

We have cctv in our toilets. We exclude for vaping. Some parents think that's an overreaction - after all, they buy them the vapes

Dealing vapes is also a problem.

Some schools have installed vape detectors

Yes it is a problem. Internal exclusion if caught.

@MrsHamlet what a nightmare for you if some parents actually giving them vapes!

It’s such a waste of our time. Patrolling toilets and checking cctv. Wish we could just bring the sniffer dogs in 😁

Yep massive issue everywhere.

Most parents furious - with the school - when they are excluded over it as they’ve bought the vapes and don’t see the issue.

Is there as much vaping at private schools as at state schools? Ours is a local state school, its a lovely school, caters well for SEN and high achievers and deals well with bullying and other teen issues, but doesn't seem to be able to do anything about the vaping. I don't hear of any smoking but maybe less teens do that now there are pretty, fruity vapes on offer.

It is illegal for under 18s to use these products.

I would be reporting a school if it was turning a blind eye.

I would also be reporting parents and any shops that are trafficking products.

The same with the pupils that are also trafficking them.

Big problem in my school. Automatic exclusion for any child found with a vape, but really hard to police. We can only search them if we have a very clear reason and we can't hang about in the toilets.

Suspension if caught, plus it is taken away if it falls out of pockets etc. Vaping is my current bugbear as we can't seem to get on top of it as they just keep turning up with new ones, mostly with parental permission it seems. The week before half term resulted in another parent being banned from the premises for trying to get through the maglock doors in reception to come and "take back their possessions". Honestly, we are sick to death of it, and sick to death of the parents who allow it; it is creating so many issues and points of conflict.

Same here. We exclude if they are caught actually doing it. Internal exclusion if caught in possession once, any further occasions will result in exclusion.

its so hard some parents and students don’t think they are a problem or health risk. Its impossible to stop them getting in.

It happens at our local secondary. The teachers seem to turn a blind eye. Plenty of kids walking into and out of the school gates each day openly vaping in their uniform. Age 11-16 so legally all too young to vape.
DC says there are always people vaping in the loos too.

Our school put in vape detectors. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-64322698

Asked my secondary aged child and he said that he has never seen anyone vaping at school.

I asked DD. She said it does happen but rare & always the same girls in the kS3 toilets - possibly worse in KS4
Never seen any outside school in uniform but again have heard of it.

My DD’s school actually lock the toilets at all times except for breaks and lunch times or when OFSTED visit which is absolutely awful.

This is because of low life vaping, skipping lessons and generally misbehaving in the toilets.

Cannot believe parents are giving teens vapes. I'd be tempted to report them to the authorities and inform the parents that I'd done so (not that anything would actually be done, but the stigma of being reported might shame some parents into stopping). Why on earth are the fruity vapes even legal? Feel sorry for schools trying to manage this.

It has just started at my ds' school although banned, the school has purchased a metal detector wand and various penalties put in place. All pupils have been told it won't be tolerated.

The toilets have been divided, with some reserved for years 7&8. The loos will be policed by staff at break times, and then locked.

There were y6 apparently caught vaping in a primary near me! But yes I know it happens in my daughters secondary.

When the school I taught at was rebuilt, all departments were provided with a loo. Heads of Department hold the key. Students have to go and request the key which results in multiple visits to disturb a lesson to get the key (the wet key). It is another horrible job teachers have to police. The main loos are locked during lesson times because of the problems with vaping. If anyone followed the thread on here from an indignant parent about human rights and loos, you will realise how many parents support students being able to go to the loo in lesson times. Teachers of course are not allowed to go to the loo and leave a class unattended, sackable offence

It is so, so common for young people to vape now, and there are vapes which are specifically designed not to look like one at first glance.

We suspend for vaping in the school building and for selling on the school site. We confiscate any vapes from under age students and do not return them as they're not legal - which some parents object to.

It is a major problem, and I have real concerns about the damage these children are doing to their lungs - so many of them vape who have never smoked.

To be honest, I'd like to see the really sweet, fruity flavours banned. I do believe they are genuinely encouraging relatively young children to vape who otherwise wouldn't. Even if we could completely stop it in school, they'd still do it outside of school and harm their health.

I think because the loos are locked except for break and lunch times in a very large comp the queues are too long for everyone to go during the limited times they are open especially when lessons are really spread out and all the knob heads also go then to vape and make a nuisance of themselves.

My DD is quiet and hates to draw attention to herself so would never dream of asking for the toilet key whereas other kids don’t think twice about this. She is upper school now and goes into town for a wee at lunchtime (as do others). Some days she only has time for either lunch or a wee (and never has a drink at school no matter how hot the weather is because of the toilet situation) she also has extremely heavy periods to contend with.

I know lots of children in our local area vape. No idea what happens at school but out in the street there are lots of them vaping. I know friends with teens who have found multiple vapes on their children.