Waltham High School Students Fight Tobacco Use

WALTHAM, MA — If you walk down the hall at Waltham High School or duck into a bathroom it wouldn't be unusual to see a cloud of smoke from an e-cigarette. Students will tell you that vaping has become rather normal to see among peers.

As in Waltham so across the country vaping among teens is on the rise. So, in an effort to combat tobacco use in Waltham schools a group of Waltham students started a campaign to raise awareness to the dangers of e-cigarettes.

On February 6, the group made up of asked fellow students to wear orange to spread awareness and asked for a day without smoke at the school. It worked.

"We had good participation. And we didn't see anyone vaping which was good," said Havol Akobirshoeva, a junior at the high school and a member of a coalition of students called the Waltham Trailblazers leading the effort.

Akobirhoeva and a fellow student showed up at the City Council meeting Feb. 5 to explain their plan to councilors and to help spread the word. They'd previously presented to the School Committee and a couple PTOs.

The main takeaway: A 2017 risk behavior survey showed that the vaping trend is more than anecdotal in the city: More Waltham students vaped than used alcohol in a 30 day period, according to the survey. And it's not by accident, according to the Trailblazers.

The Trailblazers was formed in 2016. Some 20 students from grades 9-12. They are a diverse group in age, race, and ethnicity with a mind to tackle alcohol and drug misuse, Tobacco misuse, Diversity, Bullying, belittling, and racial issues.

Shanesha Christmas, who works at the high school is the adult adviser for the group that started as an after school program for students to tackle substance misuse and address the well being of youth in the community. She said the group became interested in the tobacco prevention and the "84 Movement" - the state wide movement among high schoolers working to help educate communities about how Big tobacco is still targeting young people. That has fueled much of their effort this season.

The Trailblazers have been going through workshops and trainings with the 84 Movement and have come to understand how e-cigarettes and tobacco impact the community.

Last year the Trailblazers hosted a Tobacco Free Tuesday at the school but they wanted to go bigger this year.

"This year they felt it was a wider issue and wanted to educate the rest of the community," said Christmas.

Two students became super passionate and tried out for statewide leadership through the 84 Movement and were chosen as leaders, which means more training and youth empowerment programs and advocacy work.

"They're bringing back information that I didn't even know," said Christmas.

But if there's one thing they want folks to walk away with knowing this year said Akobirshoeva, it's that the rise of e-cigarette use is no coincidence.

"There's this whole industry behind these products that are so accessible. There's a strategy that's used behind them," she said.

So what's next for the effort?

"I'd like to do another Tobacco Free Tuesday and play off the momentum," she said.

Councillors took to social media to support the effort:

Check out the Waltham Channel report:

(For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Waltham Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch