Vaping on School Buses

[AardvarksNose]

Does anyone know what the law is around vaping on school buses? Google doesnt seem v helpful.

My dc absolutely hate having to sit on a bus with kids vaping near to them - it makes them feel travel sick and gives them a headache. We live semi rurally and there are no alternatives for travel (unless I drive them).

I have asked the school multiple times to tackle the issue but they don't seem to have any interest in doing so.

I am just wondering if the new laws around smoking and vaping could help at all?

I'm certain they are already banned on the school bus, but kids will do it anyway. The school probably doesn't have a staff member to sit on the bus and police this.

Unless you have someone from the school on the bus, or every bus that transports pupils, other than reiterating that it’s not acceptable, I think it’s difficult to police. You could contact the bus company and ask their policy and what drivers can and can’t do.

You are not allowed to smoke or vape on school transport. You need to contact your local County Education dept and ask to speak to transport.
They will take it up with the bus company and driver. Pupils can and will be suspended sometimes permanently.

Technically, while vaping isn’t 'illegal' in the same way as smoking under the old 2006 Act, almost every bus operator in the UK (like Arriva or Stagecoach) has their own strict 'no vaping' policy. The problem is often enforcement, especially on school runs.

Thanks

It seems so unfair that the majority of dc have to tolerate just a few making each journey so unpleasant.

Do people vape on normal buses or do the companies manage to police that?

People do not vape on normal buses. It’s not allowed. I’m really shocked at this.

People definitely vape on normal buses. It's not allowed, but they do. The driver can't really police it.

Yes they do. It happens all the time. Even if they notice it the drivers ignore it. I suspect if they say anything they will just get a load of abuse so they ignore it.

I must travel on nicer buses than you. I use them a lot and have never experienced this.

Is it not illegal? I'd report this to the governors and take it further to OFSTED if they are aware children are vaping on school transport and choosing not to act on it.

Ofsted? Wtf??

What on earth can the school do about it.

Why do people always think going to Ofsted is a helpful thing to do?

Maybe some parents should volunteer to police the buses home.

This is an issue with the bus company, not the school. Sadly though, some bus companies are ready to walk away from found school runs. If they are contractually obligated to manage the school runs, they will just keep on putting the prices up.

i.e. there is no easy answer.

I wonder why actually smoking on a bus would never happen?

Why are some rules followed and others not?

It is so sad that young people are being given the message that a nicotine and vape addiction is ok at 12 or 13.

OFSTED is where schools are reported to if they are unable to safeguard pupils. If the school is organising the bus then they have a responsibility to safeguard pupils on the bus too.

When I was a teenager getting the school bus it did (although pretty sure it wasn't meant to), though I think this was before CCTV was common and they stuck to the top deck so maybe the driver really didn't notice. I do remember I hated it so much I'd always stay downstairs, even if their were no seats.

Some kids used to smoke on the bus when I was at school. It probably doesn't happn nowadays because they all vape instead.

The only way they could practically do that would be for an adult to be employed to stand on every single school bus. You would need 2 if it is a double decker. The cost would be ridiculous and who in their right mind would want that job given the abuse they would get if they tried to stop someone vaping.

Yes we all used to smoke on the bus when I was at school (late 90s/early 00s). Usually at the back of the top deck but sometimes at the back of a single decker. Often the driver would stop the bus and come to challenge us, but we’d put the cigarette (because it usually was just one cigarette, shared between multiple people) out before he reached us. Dreadful behaviour, obviously, but exactly the sort of thing 15 year olds often do.

I’d imagine drivers don’t challenge anyone vaping on a public bus for the very good reason that anyone who cares so little about the rules, and about other people’s comfort/wellbeing, is likely to be the kind of person who would kick off when called out on their behaviour.

No it wouldn't.

The day the report was made, the school should have organised an investigation and searched the children suspected of vaping. Any children found with a vape should have had parents called and been banned from the bus.

Metal detectors on the way into school will prevent the issue from recurring.

Parents should search their DC belonging, especially blazer pockets. I know year 8 kids with vapes - that vape on the school bus.

So you will get Ofsted to hold a school to account on something they have no control of, other than telling pupils not to vape or punishing IF the bus company show evidence??

This is the sort of crap that means that no one wants to work in schools anymore!!!

However, in the real world..........

Searched the children? Yeah ok then. Nobody has a right to search anybody unless you're the police or similar. Get a life.

This is a serious matter, occurring on school transport, and there is a responsibility to act on it. All children go through a metal detector on the way into my stepdaughter's school and they don't have issues with vaping as a consequence. Children who can't behave on the bus shouldn't be on the bus and parents will need to take responsibility for transport,

School staff have the right to search children.

https://www.gov.uk/school-behaviour-exclusions/searches

Given OP has said they live rurally enough for there to be a school bus as there are no other public transport options, they can’t ban kids from the bus which would leave them unable to attend school.

Metal detectors are also not the answer. They are expensive, to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds a year, would require a member/multiple members of staff to “police” and it’d take 8 million years to get the kids through the door as they’d have to stop every single one that has keys on them, a belly button piercing, or coins in their pocket. A school with a large knife crime problem might make it a worthy investment, but a vape is nowhere near the level of threat to anyone else to warrant that. Not to mention school staff do not have authority to ask students to remove anything other than outwear and vapes are tiny, so they’d clock onto that after day 1 and conceal it elsewhere.