Caitlyn Sullivan of Needham wants to help students at her high school stop vaping.
The 16-year-old junior says she worried about her friends’ health. That’s why she joined a group of students at Needham High School who are aiming to create awareness of the dangers of vaping.
The group, Students Advocating Life without Substance Abuse, held multiple events at the high school last week, including distributing maroon wristbands that read “Take Care of Yourself” and promoting class discussions about vaping.
“Teenagers think they are invincible,” Sullivan said. “They know the bad effects, but they are choosing to ignore them.”
The effort came the same week that Gov. Charlie Baker lifted a temporary ban on the sale of vapes and state health regulators released a new set of restrictions on what consumers can buy.
Convenience stores and gas stations can now only sell unflavored vapes with lower nicotine levels. E-cigarette products with higher degrees of nicotine content can only be legally sold at licensed tobacco stores. The sale of flavored vapes is restricted to licensed smoking bars, where patrons will need to stay onsite for their consumption.
Baker had declared a public health emergency in September following reports of severe lung disease linked to the use of e-cigarettes and marijuana vaping products. He called for a four-month ban on the sale of flavored and unflavored vaping products
Some students say the ban did little to stop use of e-cigarettes and they want to be part of the solution.
Sullivan says the temporary ban was actually harmful to students: “It’s forcing students to buy rip-off products, which are even worse for them, and can be laced.”
She added that, with no flavored pods available for purchase, other students turned to combustible cigarettes, and even marijuana.
“Even if it’s not safe, they'll still get their hands on it, just because they want to — or they need to, if they're addicted,” Sullivan said.
Efforts are growing as students are seeing an increasing number of their peers vaping despite news of health dangers.
At Lexington High School, a group of 20 to 30 students are being trained on the latest research about e-cigarettes to then speak to their peers from middle schools to the public high school, said prevention coordinator Julie Fenn.
The student leaders came up with the slogan “LexENDS vaping,” playing on the acronym ENDS — electronic nicotine delivery system — to bring awareness to the e-cigarette epidemic.
“We find that peer-to-peer education is really effective,” Fenn said, adding students would rather listen to each other than “some old lady like me.”
Senior Jake Venzke-Kodo, 18, said he was asked to join the Lexington group following his success running an Instagram page where he posted anti-vaping related memes. Now he is a key member, tasked with coming up with effective ideas to help his classmates stop vaping. He says he’s seen too many of his friends become addicted.
“In the bathrooms, there was always a student vaping or Juuling,” said Venzke-Kodo. “I knew I had to at least try and do something to help.”
Venzke-Kodo says it’s important for younger students to hear from their older peers.
“In health classes, it's just an adult telling you statistics, which is not as relatable as someone the same age as you or even just a little bit older talking to you,” he said. “I have had a lot of success talking to freshmen, and they respect when they are approached by older members of the school.”
An October survey with the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future found that, since 2017, the shares of secondary students who regularly vape “has roughly doubled.” Close to 30% of polled 12th graders said they had vaped within the past 30 days.
Though that number decreases the lower the high school grade, even some 10% of eighth graders report having picked up a Juul or other vaping device in the past 30 days, according to the survey.
In spite of their growing popularity, younger users often don’t understand health effects of vaping.
A September poll conducted by the American Society of Clinical Oncology found that close to 30% of people age 18 to 38 years old believed flavored e-cigarettes to be less harmful than non-flavored ones, despite this being false. Among Generation Z adults aged 18 to 22, 20% found e-cigarettes to be harmless.
The Needham chapter of Students Advocating Life without Substance Abuse was founded eight years ago by students wishing there were more practical help given to those who are pressured into engaging into alcohol or other drugs.
Working with school administrators, they also reached out to state Department of Public Health for support in their initiatives. With the increased prominence of e-cigarette use among the student body, the group decided to start focusing on vaping prevention.
Karen Mullen, the advisor for the Needham High School Students Advocating Life without Substance Abuse, applauded their efforts.
“The students are passionate about this subject and have very personal reasons they advocate for their peers’ health,” she said. “They are especially interested in getting help for those who want to quit and cannot do so.”
On Friday, the student group set up two tables in the cafeteria to culminate a week-long campaign to talk about the dangers of vaping.
By the main entrance, they offered a raffle, encouraging peers to sign up for updates to prevention efforts in exchange for a chance to win $10 off at Dunkin' Donuts or at a local burrito restaurant.
At the other table, they laid out a large, white banner, with “Take Care of Yourself” written at the top in red lettering. By noon, close to four dozen names adorned the banner meant to symbolize the students’ and teachers’ pledge not to vape.
Sullivan says she realizes she can’t make other students change their behavior, but she hopes she can help them learn about the dangers of what they are doing.
“Maybe it will maybe spark like five or even one student to come forward,’’ she said. “That would be a success to us, or at least to me, if one student comes forward and asks for help.”
George Abunaw and Elias Miller are student journalists at Boston University College of Communication.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Karen Mullen's title. She is in fact the advisor for the Needham High School Students Advocating Life without Substance Abuse.
