The Truth about Vaping

I was tapping through Snapchat trying to fulfill the urge of getting through everyone’s stories, when up pops the annoying ad that I have heard about 100,000 times.

“The Depression Stick!”

It markets the vape in full bright colors with a sad face on the side. Staring at the phone, my eyes rolled back, waiting to get back to tapping through stories. Thoughts come like, “No one cares and if they do vape this isn’t going to make them stop!” Every time this ad pops up, it is trying to convince teens to stop vaping, and explain in a “exciting or cool way” how it actually causes depression and anxiety by doing skits in an office of how they are going to market their object, or they use teens and their stories but make them talk in a cringey way that makes you think, “they were definitely paid a lot to be there.”

Understanding the technique they are trying to use is easy, but only 5 percent of high school smokers think they will still be smoking five years after they graduate, which causes many students to ignore the ads. In reality, 75 percent of teen smokers will still be using some form of tobacco as adults.

Adults think that teens choose to participate in vaping and other dangerous activities for many reasons. Dayce Richardson, School Resource Officer at Waukee High School, he believes that there are many factors that lead kids to vape. “I believe some of the factors for teens trying out vaping are stress, peer pressure, wanting to act cool, and to feel good,” Officer Richardson said.

While some may agree with Officer Richardson, there are many other reasons why teens turn to vaping. An anonymous student at Waukee High School gave examples like, “how it could be a coping mechanism, a way to distract yourself or escape from reality, and even teens thinking it is a way for them to look cool in front of peers.” There are different reasons why teens start vaping and contrasting views with adults and teens when it comes to this topic.

The most important part of vaping is finding effective ways to try and quit. Many teens don’t know the real harms, or they don’t care because they use it to cope, as the anonymous student said before. Though if we were able to find ways to quit that actually worked–unlike the Snapchat ads that most teens just tap past–we would actually be able to make an impact in teenagers’ lives.

As Officer Richardson says, “Everyone’s bodies are different.” This affects the way people can quit and how they are able to stop. So being able to figure out ways for yourself and actually applying it is another important factor. If you don’t want to quit vaping, you’re not going to. If you don’t have a support system and tell your friends, it makes it 10 times harder. Teenagers have to find effective ways that work for them, apply themselves to actually quitting with a support system, otherwise they won’t get anywhere, and they will continue vaping.