Vermilion Parish School System will install vape sensors in high school bathrooms

High school bathrooms remain the most common location for teens to vape, continuing a trend from previous generations when bathrooms were the primary place to smoke.
It is common to encounter cherry-scented, chemical vapors from e-cigarettes in high school bathrooms.
At the start of the next school year, students should be aware that the Vermilion Parish School District is taking significant steps to prevent vaping in high school bathrooms.
With a $100,000 grant, the district is purchasing Halo Smart Sensors for installation in all parish high school bathrooms. The company bid $65,000 for the installation.
After high schools receive sensors, the district will begin installing them in middle schools.
Superintendent Tommy Byler explained that the sensors will not trigger an audible alarm when they detect vape or e-cigarette smoke. Instead, they will send an alert to the school administrator’s cell phone.
A red light will be installed above each bathroom door. When the sensor detects nicotine, THC, or smoke, the light will activate to alert the teacher on duty.
“This is just the next step in our process to curb vaping in our schools,” said Byler. “Vaping is not healthy for our youth.”
Statistics show that more than 2.55 million youth in the U.S. vape, including at least 14.1% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students.
That’s according to the most recent statistics (2022) from the National Youth Tobacco Survey from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which also found that, of those youth who vape, 85% use flavored e-cigarettes (as opposed to unflavored options) and more than a quarter of users (27.5%) reported having a daily habit.
Byler stated that students caught vaping will be assigned to an alternative school for 30 days. If THC is found in the vape, the student may face expulsion from the school system.

What is vaping, and
why is it unhealthy?

According to the CDC, e-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid containing nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals, sometimes including marijuana or other drugs, to produce an aerosol. Users inhale this aerosol, and bystanders are also exposed when it is exhaled.
First-hand aerosol exposure is harmful to many. The aerosol from e-cigarettes is harmful for several reasons. Most e-cigarettes (99%) contain nicotine, often undisclosed, which can damage the developing adolescent brain, including areas responsible for attention, learning, mood, and impulse control. Because vapes are powerful, accessible, and discreet, “kids can pretty much use these almost 24/7, which means unbelievably high amounts of nicotine in very short periods of time,” says Koval. “So, they become addicted in very short periods of time.”