LAKE COUNTY — U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams officially declared e-cigarette use among youth an “epidemic” and recent studies support this statement. A study conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan indicated the percentage of 12th-graders who reported vaping in their lifetime rose to 42.5 percent from 35.8 percent in 2017. In addition, a 2016 Surgeon General’s report concluded that youth use of nicotine in any form, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe, causes addiction and can harm the developing adolescent brain. A January 2019 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine indicated that those who use e-cigarettes are more likely to become smokers, even among youths who were previously deemed low-risk.
Our Lake County schools are well aware of the epidemic and are battling the issue through a variety of educational programs and intervention strategies, according to Doreen Gilmore, Tobacco-Use-Prevention Education Coordinator for the Lake County Office of Education.
Gilmore noted that all schools in the county are certified Tobacco-Free and that all school sites have updated their signs and policies to include e-cigarettes and tobacco administering devises.
In addition, Gilmore said, “Each district has a TUPE Coordinator and they administrator the California Healthy Kids Survey in their districts. They are aware of the vaping epidemic. Middletown High School installed vaping detectors and with so many kids vaping, changed their policy from a punitive to a prevention approach.” The LCOE TUPE program offered teachers posters and curriculum information and gave high school counselors quit kits with cessation information for students.
Bill Roderick, Principal of Middletown High School said, “Like all high schools across the nation, Middletown High School is experiencing the same vaping issues. Our position is that we would like to educate and prevent further use, not just use discipline as a deterrent. We are working to educate our students on the dangers of vaping in the classrooms and on campus as well as with positive alternatives to out of school suspension when students are caught vaping or in possession of a vape device. Students will understand that actions and decisions have consequences, and in the case of vaping the issue is so new, many of the long term effects are not even known yet. Also, students are assigned to vaping and tobacco cessation groups that we offer during school hours with our partner, Lake County Behavioral Health and their Prevention Specialist Michael Mos. We also have the cessation classes available for students who have chosen on their own to take on the challenge of quitting vaping.”
Pomo Elementary School implemented the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program for their sixth grade students which addresses substance abuse, including smoking, vaping and other dangerous behaviors.
Jill Falconer, Superintendent of Lakeport Unified School District said that Clear Lake High School has been very pro-active in regards to the vaping epidemic. They contacted the Tobacco Education and Prevention Lake County Health Services last year and started a new club called the “Youth Tobacco Coalition”. CLHS will be participating in the Great American Smoke Out in November with a week long campaign, including the distribution of educational materials.
Falconer also said that CLHS held a parent education program on vaping during Back to School Night. The school is currently trying to raise funds to place vaping detectors in bathrooms.
Although Lake County districts are working hard on non-punitive approaches to the issues, there may be instances where disciplinary measures are warranted. Relative to this, districts are currently struggling with how to handle Senate Bill 419 recently signed by Governor Newsom. Beginning next July, teachers in California will no longer be allowed to suspend elementary and middle school students from school for disrupting classroom activities or defying school authorities. Falconer said that implementing this new law will cost money which the State is not providing. Restorative Justice is one intervention program many districts are using successfully. The purpose of this program is to bring students together in peer-mediated small groups to talk, ask questions, and air their grievances.
Falconer explained that if the district chose to use this intervention approach, funding would need to be found to provide in-services and coaching for staff and to provide stipends or salaries for program facilitators. Other interventions might include in-house suspension programs which would also cost money to implement. New policies and procedures will need to be created throughout Lake County before the law goes into effect in July.
Prior to joining the Record-Bee as a freelancer covering education and local news items, Mary Phillips worked in education as a teacher and an administrator for 34 years
