School’s vape battle aired

The discussion on Thursday (June 29) is part of Dr Johnson’s campaign to properly, tightly regulate the business and ban disposable vapes which she sees as cheap and attractive to the youth market.

It came a day after expert witnesses gave evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee in Parliament on the subject, including Laranya Caslin, Headteacher of St George’s Academy in Sleaford, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and representatives from the industry.

Mrs Caslin told MPs how levels of addiction were disrupting education: “We have a significant proportion of students vaping and they’re vaping regularly and, in some cases, making excuses to leave lessons to go to the toilet to vape.

“My head student team would estimate the proportion to be around one in four of students at the school are vaping.”

In comparison she said they had rarely had an issue in school with students smoking cigarettes. She said students were vaping in the toilets and setting off the fire alarm, interrupting lessons regularly, she had to quickly change smoke sensors in two sets of toilets to heat sensors to prevent disruption during exams.

She claimed teens were getting vapes from shops that were not checking ages or from older students who bought them to sell on. She said, after an awareness campaign, one parent confiscated and passed on five vapes from their child’s bedroom which they believed were to be sold on. She said the school works with police but they have to be caught in the act.

Mrs Caslin believed students were motivated to vape by peer pressure as well as vape flavours sounding like sweets, such as gummy bear, slushy and unicorn milk.

She was concerned how easily available they were to younger teens and agreed that adding a levy to make them more expensive could deter some younger children.

The committee also heard that doctors are seeing children with asthma who can no longer use school toilets due to vaping triggering attacks.

During her Westminster hall debate, Dr Johnson said there have been eight reported cases of children from St George’s Academy collapsing after vaping. Among harmful chemicals found in vapes seized she said police tests had found engine coolant, varnish, hydraulic oil and antifreeze.

She said: “These vapes do not contain what the children think they do, and they can be very dangerous.

"The eight children who collapsed in Sleaford were taken to hospital. Thankfully, they have all recovered, but in one description given to me, a child taken to hospital in the back of a car had one side of his face drooped down as if he had had a stroke.”

She urged increased regulation on marketing, stricter penalties on those selling to underage children, taxation on vapes, as well as support for schools to educate pupils on the dangers.

Health minister Neil O’Brien said: “We are committed to doing all we can to prevent children from starting vaping, and we are already taking robust action in a range of areas. We are also looking closely at how we can go further.”