NEWS REPORT
2023 EDUCATION EDITION
Vaping growing problem in Pearland, Alvin, Friendswood ISDs
UP IN SMOKE While the number of vape- related incidents declined throughout the COVID-19 pandemic years, numbers for Pearland ISD and Friendswood ISD have started to climb again, and in PISD’s case, eclipsed the numbers seen before the pandemic.
A NATIONAL TREND National surveys from 2022 showed more than 2.5 million U.S. middle and high school students were using e-cigarettes. Those numbers break down to show how frequently those students are using the devices.
A SHORT DRIVE AWAY Across AISD, FISD and PISD’s high schools, several have vape shops within 2 miles of them. This list is not comprehensive.
Pearland ISD Friendswood ISD
Vape shops High schools
150 200
Breakdown of vaping among students 9.4%
Usage frequency among students who vape 27.6%
How frequently student users vape
100
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PEARLAND PKWY.
BY JAMES T. NORMAN
caught with vape pens peak prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, those num- bers plummeted during the pandemic and have since rebounded or exceeded previous years, the data shows. A growing problem At Pearland ISD, the number of students disciplined for having a vape device increased ninefold from the 2016-17 to 2018-19 school years, according to district data. Those num- bers dipped the next two years but picked back up in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Kelly Holt, executive director of high schools at PISD, said in an email it’s easy for students to hide vaping from adults. District o cials plan to install about 68 vape smoke detectors at high schools in the district as a result. “Students are missing class to vape in restrooms and other areas of campus,” Holt said. Dating back to 2017, Friendswood
45
50 0
From toilets being clogged with vape pens to more students being disciplined for using e-cigarettes and o cials installing vape detectors, schools across Pearland, Friendswood and Alvin are seeing increases in vaping-related problems. “It’s consumed us,” Alvin ISD Assis- tant Superintendent Rory Gesch said. With summer ending soon, school districts are preparing for the new year—and trying to gure out how to head o the growing trend of students alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes for years. However, more teens and young adults have picked up the habit, said Dr. Sandeep Gupta, a pulmonologist in the Greater Houston area. While local school districts in some cases saw the number of students using vape pens on campuses. Vaping has been seen as an
521
42.3%
40.6%
SOURCES: PEARLAND ISD, FRIENDSWOOD ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT
17.1%
72.4%
90.6%
Currently vaping Not currently vaping
Use daily Do not use daily
Every 1-5 days Every 6-19 days Every 20-30 days
ISD saw its peak back in the 2018-19 school year at 93 incidents, according to district data. Those numbers declined once the pandemic started but have started to steadily increase again to 55 and 46 incidences over the past two years, respectively. O cials at FISD did not comment on the trends. AISD doesn’t keep speci c data for vaping, but o cials have noticed sim- ilar patterns to other districts, Gesch said. At AISD, o cials have had to unclog pens from toilets that students have ushed to avoid getting caught. However, because of the health challenges in recent years, such as
with the pandemic, the issue isn’t seeing the same level of interest from o cials or the community, said Amanda McLauchlin, executive director with Bay Area Alliance for Youth and Families. The Alliance aims at preventing substance use in youth, according to its website. The group works with Clear Creek ISD and FISD. “It’s almost an impossible ght— unless you can a ord to put bathroom monitors in every bathroom, or take the doors o every bathroom,” McLauchlin said. “Vapes are tiny [and] easy to hide. ... So there’s just very few opportunities.”
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SOURCE: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION COMMUNITY IMPACT
288
Legislative e orts To pair with measures taken by local districts, the state has recently passed a bill—House Bill 114—that creates new requirements for districts to help deal with the issue. One requirement makes it manda- tory for students caught with vapes to be placed in their respective district’s disciplinary alternative education program, also known as DAEP, rather than being sent to county programs,
according to the bill. Texas House Rep. Ed Thompson, R Pearland, who sponsored the bill, said it gives districts exibility instead of relying on county education programs, which Thompson said have been “overrun.” “There needs to be some form of consequences that goes along with what kids do,” Thompson said. “We need to fund these [disciplinary] programs further.”
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That approach, though, is just one part of what’s needed to solve the problem, McLauchlin said. It will take addiction programs and involvement from the community.
“We can’t punish our way out of this. It’s an addiction,” McLauchlin said. “Adults use aids to help, and now we’re expecting a 16-year-old to quit [without help]. It’s a vicious cycle.”
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