A vaping epidemic has taken over Wayne City High School and the surrounding areas. Well, really, it is an epidemic that is taking over the whole country. According to International Business Times, around 15% of kids have admitted that they have tried or frequently use vaping tools such as box mods, Juuls, and hookahs. Recently, students and teachers have found that children are starting to do it in schools and classrooms without teacher knowledge. The wafts of mango, mint, and different fruity flavors coming from the back of the class aren’t anyone’s new perfume, they are the fun new flavors that draw kids into a nicotine addiction.

Some people wonder, “If kids are doing this in class, why isn’t anyone stopping them?” Well, it is super hard to detect some of the Juuls that students carry around now a days. They’re very small and look like USB drives which are quite easy to hide. Also, kids have been bragging lately on how they “hold in” the smoke until it just goes away and is therefore not visibly detectable. It can only really be identified by the scent and even then some teachers are unaware of how the fruity flavors smell or that they even exist.

There are of course some exceptions. Some of the staff is aware of what is happening. So far, few students have experienced vaping related punishments. The administration claims e-cigs are now addressed in the student handbook, but more changes are coming.  The school says that they are beginning to crack down on this epidemic and that handbook and punishments will definitely be changing next year.