Education
BY DANICA LLOYD
Vaping a top concern in Cy-Fair ISD
Current situation
House Bill 114 went into eect Sept. 1, requiring public schools to place students in a disciplinary alternative education program if they possess, use, sell or share e-cigarettes on campus. First-time oenders in CFISD are placed for at least 10 days. Steven Kelder, a professor at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health who developed the CATCH My Breath vaping prevention program, said while discipline is the easier route to take, students also need support to help them quit. “Some [schools] are catching so many kids that there’s a waitlist to get into the alternative school,” he said. “And the only reason is because they’re addicted.” Kelder attributes the recent decline in vape usage to multimillion-dollar lawsuits against vape companies and to the COVID-19 pandemic. “[Kids are] often using these substances under the radar of parents and teachers. But they’re doing it together,” he said. “[During] COVID, ... there wasn’t the opportunity to initiate use.”
Although e-cigarette use among high schoolers nationwide declined from 27.5% in 2019 to 10% in 2023, vaping is still a signicant issue for this demographic as marketing is often geared toward young people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most e-cigarettes contain the addictive chemical compound nicotine, so vaping can disrupt brain development for adolescents, impacting their ability to control attention, learning, mood and impulses, the CDC reports. Cy-Fair ISD trustee Justin Ray at the June 17 board meeting said he believes this is a major health and safety concern. “Talking with one of the principals, ... vaping is our No. 1 issue,” he said. There were 866 reported cases of vaping incidents in CFISD throughout the 2023-24 school year, the rst year vaping incidents
Drug and alcohol incidents in Cy-Fair ISD 2,500
2,188
2,000 1,500 1,000
796
0 500
SOURCE: CYFAIR ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT
were formally tracked, ocials said. Overall, drug and alcohol incidents across CFISD were up nearly 30% compared to 2022-23. The district’s eorts to prevent vaping include an email to parents, social media posts, marquee messaging and videos, ocials said.
While vaping can lead to serious respiratory issues and potential lifelong addictions, he said longer-term e ects aren’t clear yet. Lea McMahon is the chief clinical ocer at Symetria Recovery, which has locations in Houston including in Jersey Village. “Many of my younger patients admit that vaping is partially more alluring due to its seemingly ‘less serious’ complications than other substances such as prescription drugs and alcohol,” she said. “Also, many teens
can access e-cigarettes without stringent complications due to online sites and peers who already have access to such items.”
What parents should know
Public health ocials have made “great strides” with the teen smoking rate, Kelder said. Today only about 3%-4% of teenagers smoke traditional cigarettes, he said. “Then here comes along another source of nicotine that tastes like fruit avors and candy. ... That’s a key reason why kids want to use it,” Kelder said.
Resources for parents are available at
www.catch.org/ program/vaping- prevention.
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