Vaping Dangers
What Parents Need To Know
You’ve probably heard a variety of wording like JUUL, vapes, and vape pens. These are all forms of e-cigarettes, and they’re all dangerous.
Vapes are NOT just flavors and steam. Vaping is highly addictive, and one JUUL pod contains as much nicotine as 20 cigarettes or about one pack of cigarettes. Vape pods also contain toxins and carcinogens, including formaldehyde, propylene glycol, and acrolein, which can cause irreversible lung damage. And due to their newness - long-term health effects are unknown.
All these risks are being funded by organizations that are well known to put profit far ahead of the health of individuals or our society. Specifically, one industry: Big Tobacco. Altria, the owner of Marlboro, is JUUL's primary investor. These tobacco firms target our kids, and parents are best positioned to protect them against such powerful and dangerous opponents.
These are several examples of vapes that children use. It is
Be An Engaged, Aware Parent
What You Need
In 2020, 19.6% of high school students (3.02 million) and 4.7% of middle school students (550,000) reported current e-cigarette use. Among current e-cigarette users, 38.9% of high school students and 20.0% of middle school students reported using e-cigarettes on 20 or more of the past 30 days; 22.5% of high school users and 9.4% of middle school users reported daily use. Among all current e-cigarette users, 82.9% used flavored e-cigarettes, including 84.7% of high school users (2.53 million) and 73.9% of middle school users (400,000).
More than a third of US high school students have tried an inhalant or illicit drug by the time they are in eighth grade. More than half use an illegal drug by the time they finish high school. Eighty percent of today's high school students have used alcohol. (AAP)
THE NUMBERS TODAY ARE EVEN HIGHER.
Communicate Openly
Talk with Your Kids.
Be patient and ready to listen.
There is no “perfect time” to talk.
There is no “perfect talk.”
Ask what your child thinks.
Be open and honest.
You can’t always control everything your children do when they’re not with you.
Talking with your kids about vaping will let them know that you’re concerned about their health.
Test to See the Truth
If you are concerned about your child's behavior and potentially using vapes or drugs - you may want to drug test your child. Much of the Google research sways away from home testing, which has us be curious about their commitment to actually impacting the vape and drug crisis. The question is, can you be the type of parent who can have a conversation that empowers your child to take the test voluntarily because you love them and want them to be safe.?