B.C.’s school trustees are asking for help to stop students from vaping.
Stephanie Higginson, president of the B.C. School Trustees Association, said in an interview Tuesday that her members report more students are vaping and school staff are spending more time policing the problem.
Members approved a motion at the association’s provincial council meeting urging federal and provincial governments to make funding available for vape education and cessation for students, she said.
“Our schools are spending more time addressing, monitoring the oversight of this. So, it is a problem,” she said. “We have students using the vaping products in some extreme circumstances, actually in the classroom, because (vaping) presents itself differently than smoking.”
Higginson, who represents members on 60 provincial school boards, said trustees also want vaping product advertisements, promotions and sponsorships to align with current tobacco legislation.
Any solution should be part of a larger mental-health support strategy, she said.
“We know that kids who have access to mental-health supports are less likely to vape,” Higginson said.
READ MORE: First case of ‘probable’ vaping-related illness in B.C.
The motion will be presented to B.C.’s ministries of Health and Education and to provincial health authorities.
She said the Canadian School Board Association will also be advocating for help from the federal government around student vaping.
“What we need is a more co-ordinated and communicated effort to address this.”
The new physical education program includes a health component that would give schools an opportunity to educate about the dangers of vaping, if they’re provided with the proper resources from government, she said.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a statement Tuesday that B.C. is planning regulatory action that would be the first of its kind in Canada. He said it involves education, empowering young people, working with its partners and pressuring the federal government to act.
“We know from past experience that campaigns targeted at youth that have been designed and led by peers to create social change have been successful. The goal is to make vaping socially unacceptable much like smoking cigarettes is now socially unacceptable by today’s youth.”
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Health Canada said in a statement earlier this month that it was deeply concerned by the increase in vaping reported among youth.
It said it has taken numerous steps to address the rise of vaping in Canada and, in particular, the risk that it poses to youth. Those steps include consulting on additional regulatory measures targeting promotion to youth, packaging and flavours, as well as compliance and enforcement and public awareness and youth education campaigns.
The Canadian Press
