Lindenhurst Middle School Leads in the Fight Against Vaping

Lindenhurst Middle School is piloting a new program in an effort to crack down on student vaping and e-cigarette use. The school is partnering with local drug and alcohol abuse prevention organization Babylon Cares, which is providing the resources to install new vape detectors in the school as well as supplemental counseling services to students caught vaping in order to prevent potential nicotine addiction.

The idea for this initiative partly came about thanks to the advocacy of student Vanessa Faith Probst, now a freshman at Lindenhurst High School, who called for a comprehensive anti-vaping program in the District. This new vape detection and counseling initiative will soon also be rolled out at Lindenhurst High School, and Babylon Cares is seeking to extend it to neighboring Copiague and Wyandanch school districts.

A recent survey of Lindenhurst students by Babylon Cares at the organization’s latest 2023 Lindenhurst Youth Summit indicated that vaping and e-cigarette use was the number one issue among youth in their community, and according to the CDC, about 4.6 percent of middle school students, and about 10 percent of all high school students reported e-cigarette use nationwide.

The detectors installed at Lindenhurst Middle School notify staff when they detect e-cigarette vapors or when noise levels get particularly high, allowing security staff to intervene in the case of a fight. Funding for this program was secured by Babylon Cares through a federal grant.

For more information about the Lindenhurst Union Free School District, please visit the District’s website at www.lindenhurstschools.org. Exciting activities happening throughout the District and programs celebrating student achievement can also be found on the District’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/LindenhurstUFSD/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lindenhurstufsd/.