Vaping On The Rise At New Trier, Board Considers Adding Detectors

WINNETKA, IL — New Trier High School is considering increasing the punishment for students caught "vaping" on campus, according to administrators. Although rates of cigarette smoking among students have declined, there is evidence the use of e-cigarettes is increasing, the board was told Monday. In a memo to the board and Superintendent Paul Sally, assistant superintendents Timothy Hayes and Peter Tragos discussed ways the district can reduce the number of students using the electronic devices, which heat up liquids to produce a steam vapor that is inhaled into the lungs.

The devices are marketed in ways that appeal to teens, they said, with "sleek designs and a wide variety of flavored liquids."

According a 2016 survey of students, only seven percent of students reported smoking a conventional cigarette over the prior 30 days, compared to 19 percent of students who said they used an e-cigarette in the same period. An updated survey is being conducted this month, the memo said.

At New Trier's Winnetka campus, the rate of "consequences" issued for violations of the policy that forbids the use or possession of nicotine and tobacco increased sharply over the past few years, the administrators said.

There were 22 violations reported in the 2015-16 school year, 78 during 2016-17 and there have already been 58 in the current academic year, according to the memo.

A couple years ago, half of the cigarette violations involved "vaping," but 96 percent of those reported this year have involved e-cigarettes.

Students found with the devices are subject to suspension, according to the memo. Anytime a student is caught with one, administrators check to determine whether or not the device contains THC, the primary active psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

If it does, students receive a village citation, multiple all-day detentions and an opportunity to participate in a substance use intervention program.

In the memo, administrators suggest considering an increase in the number of days of detention and ways to provide intervention education during that detention.

They also suggested exploring whether to ask the police departments of Northfield and Winnetka to start issuing local ordinance citations to students found "vaping" without THC.

The assistant superintendents also said they are "considering the cost and benefit of installing vapor detectors" in the school's bathrooms. The devices send alert messages when there's a sudden change to the air quality.

"It is worth noting that there has been one incident at New Trier in which a student vaping in a restroom activated the smoke detector and triggered a fire alarm," they wrote.

At the board's Feb. 19 meeting, Board President Greg Robitaille said the district must combine disciplinary strategies and efforts to educate students about the dangers of the devices, Pioneer Press reported.

Excerpt from memo from New Trier High School assistant superintendents Peter Tragos and Timony Hayes to the District 203 Board of Education and Superintendent Paul Sally:

Addressing E-cigarette Use or Vaping
The following is a closer examination of our work to address a specific adolescent health concern: the growing use of e-cigarettes, also known as vaping, by adolescents. As noted earlier, we know from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey that while cigarette smoking by New Trier students has fallen over the last few years use of e-cigarettes has risen. In 2016, only 7% of students reported smoking at least one cigarette in the last 30 days on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. In comparison, 19% of students reported using an e-cigarette at least once during the last 30 days. This percentage is below the national average of 24% reported in 2015 by the Centers for Disease Control but more than twice the rate of those smoking regular cigarettes, and there is evidence that use is increasing. In 2015-16, we issued 22 consequences at the Winnetka Campus for violation of the policies on student use and/or possession of nicotine or tobacco (7-180 and 7-200). In 2016-17, we issued 78 consequences, and this year we have already issued 58 consequences. In 2015-16, half of the violations for cigarettes came from possessing or using e-cigarettes. In 2016-17, all but three violations were for use or possession of e-cigarettes, and this year all but two were for e-cigarettes.

E-cigarettes are devices that deliver nicotine, flavoring, and other additives by heating a liquid that contains one of those additives, creating a vapor that is inhaled. E-cigarettes go by several names, including e-cig, vape pens, and vapes. The devices are battery-powered and rechargeable. Ecigarettes can also be used to deliver THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, and other illicit drugs. E-cigarettes are marketed in ways that appeal to adolescents with sleek designs and a wide variety of flavored liquids. E-cigarettes and the liquid components are readily available at brickand-mortar stores and through online retailers.

The Surgeon General has listed several health concerns related to the use of e-cigarettes (vaping). Although the devices produce steam rather than smoke, the primary component in most fluids is nicotine, which is highly addictive. The Surgeon General lists the following negative health impacts of nicotine:

- Nicotine exposure during periods of significant brain development, such as adolescence, can disrupt the growth of brain circuits that control attention, learning, and susceptibility to addiction.

- The effects of nicotine exposure during youth and young adulthood can be long-lasting and can include lower impulse control and mood disorders.

- The nicotine in e-cigarettes and other tobacco products can prime young brains for addiction to other drugs, such as cocaine and methamphetamine.

The steam vapor that is produced is harmful to the user and others who may inhale it. The vapor contains nicotine; ultrafine particles; flavorings such as diacetyl, a chemical linked to serious lung disease; volatile organic compounds such as benzene, which is found in car exhaust; and heavy metals, such as nickel, tin, and lead. (Source: Surgeon General)

In addition, e-cigarettes can also be used as delivery devices for THC. The Surgeon General has long identified health concerns associated with marijuana use by adolescents. Acute intoxication with marijuana interferes with many aspects of mental functioning and has serious, acute effects on perception and skilled performance, such as driving and other complex tasks involving judgement or fine motor skills. Other impacts include short-term memory impairment and slowness of learning, impaired immune response, and possible adverse effects on heart function. Adolescents are especially vulnerable to THC’s behavioral and psychological effects. (Source: CDC)

Student Education
The primary venue for addressing the health risks of vaping with students is through the Kinetic Wellness Department’s Health curriculum. In that curriculum, students learn about the health risks for a variety of substances including e-cigarettes. This includes learning about the dangers of nicotine addiction, its impact on adolescent development, and the presence of other harmful chemicals in the vapor from these devices.

In addition, this curriculum helps students understand the discrepancy between the amount of actual use of substances and their perception of use by their classmates. Results from the YRBS consistently show that students overestimate the use of substances by their classmates. For example, in 2016, 7% of students reported smoking a cigarette and 19% reported using a vape in the last 30 days. However, students’ perception is that 56% of their classmates are smoking or vaping. The danger of this perception is that it threatens to normalize this behavior. In addition to presenting this discrepancy through the health curriculum, these results are also shared with students through a social marketing campaign of posters that rotate monthly in public areas and bathrooms that we call Under Your Own Influence.

Staff Education
E-cigarettes present an additional challenge in that the rechargeable batteries used in these devices often look like USB flash drives. After hearing from students that classmates were charging these devices at school, we held a staff meeting last spring at both campuses to review the concerns associated with vaping and to show staff members examples of these devices so that they would more accurately identify them. As a result, the adviser chairs saw an increase in students referred for disciplinary consequences for possessing these devices at school.

Our Student Assistance Program Coordinator has also presented at adviser in-services to better prepare advisers for conversations with their advisees. At those presentations, she has shown examples of the devices, discussed the health risks associated with vaping, and led discussions on how to approach this topic with students. We will continue to educate our staff and emphasize the increase in behavior and how, when that behavior happens at school, it makes many of our students feel uncomfortable.

Parent Education
Just as staff members needed additional information to address this health concern with students more effectively, we have also presented information to parents to aid their support of healthy behavior at home. In October, the Parents Association hosted the Straight Talk program that addressed a variety of health behaviors including vaping. In addition, the adviser chairs have spoken at a Parent’s Association coffees and to class executive committees about the dangers of vaping. At all of these events, the focus was on raising parent awareness of this behavior and providing them with some strategies to encourage healthier behavior. In the next steps section, we discuss continued emphasis on parent education.

Administrative Response
The use or possession of e-cigarettes is strictly prohibited by school code, Board Policy 7-180 and in the Guidebook. The use or possession of e-cigarettes is also prohibited by the Extracurricular Code. School consequences for possession of e-cigarettes range from a Saturday School for a first offense to All Day Detention with referral to the Student Assistance Program for repeated offenses. Use of e-cigarettes on school grounds ranges from All Day Detention for a first offense to multiple days of All Day Detention with referral to the Student Assistance Program for multiple offenses. In addition, students covered by the Extracurricular Code face suspension from the program for a short period of time up to permanent removal from the program for repeated offenses.

Each time a student is found in possession of an e-cigarette device, adviser chairs seek to determine if the liquid associated with that device contains THC. In cases where that is unclear, the liquid is turned over to the School Resource Officer for testing. When it is determined that a fluid does contain THC, students are assigned multiple All Day Detentions, referred to the Student Assistance Program, and offered the opportunity to reduce their time in All Day Detention by participating in a substance use intervention program through one of the local agencies in our community. They also receive a village citation from Winnetka or Northfield.

Next Steps
There are several next steps that the district can pursue to further address this health concern. Use of e-cigarettes is an issue not only at New Trier but is also a growing concern at the township’s K-8 districts. The Township Superintendents discussed this shared concern at their February meeting and thought a joint parent evening would allow parents from across the township to better understand the health risks of vaping and better encourage healthy behavior at home and throughout adolescence. Leaders from our Student Assistance and Student Services Programs will reach out to the sender districts to determine an appropriate date in the next few months to present this program.

It is also worth considering whether or not our disciplinary interventions act as effective deterrents. Before the state-mandated revision of our suspension policy, repeated e-cigarette offenses could have resulted in suspension and use or possession of THC on campus would have resulted in a multi-day suspension. This may have provided a more powerful incentive for students and families to participate in community-based substance use education programs as an alternative to suspension. It is worth considering whether an increase in the number of days of All School Detention might be more effective. We are also considering ways in which students receiving All Day Detention for substance use would also receive intervention education during that detention.

An additional consequence for an e-cigarette offense might be to ask the Northfield and Winnetka police departments to issue village citations. This is currently our practice when we find students in possession of THC. A village citation requires a meeting at the village hall and typically results in some form of community service requirement. Village citations are non-criminal and do not involve a person’s criminal record. They do create an additional consequence that conveys the seriousness with which the community treats a behavior.

As we have in the past, a review of the materials presented in Kinetic Wellness and other parts of the curriculum is appropriate, focusing on materials that could be added to the health curriculum that would enhance students’ understanding of the health risks of vaping. Vaping is a topic that should also be addressed in other parts of the school as well. While some advisers address vaping as a topic with their advisees, perhaps this should be a more uniform experience for students. We are also considering the cost and benefit of installing vapor detectors in bathroom areas. These devices monitor the air quality in a bathroom and send an alert message to pre-determined cell phone numbers when there is a sudden change. These detectors would allow a staff member to know that vaping may be occurring in a specific location. It is worth noting that there has been one incident at New Trier in which a student vaping in a restroom activated the smoke detector and triggered a fire alarm.

This February we will again give the Youth Risk Behavior Survey to students. After the results are reviewed and compiled by the statistician, a committee will meet over the summer to review the results and prepare an analysis. Next fall, the All School Wellness Team will use that analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies we are employing to address vaping and other health issues. This group will also consider relevant research to determine if there are additional interventions that we should pilot.

Summary As with other health concerns, New Trier uses multiple approaches to educate students regarding the health risks of vaping and to encourage healthy decision-making. Kinetic Wellness’ health curriculum is one powerful tool that reaches every student during their time at our school. Healthy decision-making is supported by our school disciplinary procedures. Education of staff and parents ensures that students are surrounded by adults with accurate information and strategies for supporting them. Finally, we are committed to continually evaluating and improving our practices in all areas for the health and safety of our students.