Consequences hit student vapers at DGS

A student walks into the PE locker room and carefully turns to face his locker while everyone is changing before class. He takes a concealed hit from his Juul before quickly passing it to his friend who continues the ritual. The supervising teacher walks past the aisle at the exact same time, instantly catching the students in the act.

The disciplinary policy for getting caught with vaping devices has many levels at DGS. On a first offense, a student receives social probation, which prohibits students from attending school-sponsored events and requires one day of in-school suspension. Along with a punishment from the school, they receive charges from the Downers Grove Police Department.

In accordance with Illinois law, one must be 21 years or older to purchase vaping materials, cigarettes and other tobacco products. Additionally, the use of recreational marijuana is currently illegal for all ages. This makes the consequences of being in possession of THC, a compound found in marijuana, more severe than those of nicotine.

Angela Earwood, Dean of Students, explained the differences in consequences for devices containing THC and devices containing nicotine.

“The police consequences of vaping [with a] nicotine product is a $75 fine. It could be for multiple devices, $75 for each one. For marijuana paraphernalia and devices, those tickets are $100. There is a difference in the school consequences as well because marijuana is an illegal drug,” Earwood said.

The policy for these drug-related problems has changed over the years as the number of products has increased. The transition from cigarettes to vaping has increased teenage use of these products and effectively raised the school’s involvement in punishing these actions. Principal Ed Schwartz explained the adaptation of the school policy.

“I think the actual [severity of the] consequence has decreased. We are really trying to focus on how to help the kids, not just punish them, but try to help them learn new skills so they don’t keep making the same mistake,” Schwartz said.

Students who are on their first offense of possessing vaping devices are able to participate in an educational program to remove their social probation. This educational program provides students with information about the effects of vaping and is run by Student Assistance Coordinator Diana Benoist. Earwood explained how the program is run.

“When [the students] are in [in-school intervention], for part of the time they can do the [vaping educational] program. They have to read articles and answer questions, they have to watch videos, and then they are also required to have one follow up session with Mrs. Benoist. If they complete that, then [they] are off social probation,” Earwood said.

Vaping has been recognized as a prevalent problem at DGS. The number of students receiving punishments for vaping has increased by over 60% from the 2018 school year to the 2019 school year. Junior Devin Pope shared that he has witnessed many people facing the consequences of vaping.

“I’ve seen and heard a lot of kids getting caught at school. I feel like if you do vape and stuff like that at school, then there is a high chance of getting caught,” Pope said.

The staff continues to work to remove vaping from the school and promote a healthier, safer environment. Still, many students go unpunished for their use of these illegal products. Sophomore Hailey Lloyd shared that she believes the biggest flaw is the inability to identify all the students who vape during school.

“The school doesn’t catch a majority of the kids that vape, so many of the students go unpunished, but when the school does catch them, they receive good and fair punishments,” Lloyd said.

The presence of vaping at DGS has drawn attention from all aspects. Teenage vaping has been recognized as an epidemic, and the school has taken action to try and help students. Aside from disciplining students, the school works to inform on and prevent vaping.

“Each of the last three years, I have done parent nights where we have the parents come in, and we show them vape devices and talk to them so they can identify and work with their kids more. We do a lot of outreach and education around vaping. Aside from just punishment, we try to help kids make better choices, too,” Schwartz said.