A McHenry High School senior just got caught vaping. Their mind is racing as the student resource officer goes over the consequences with them. The repercussions of this act are harsh. They wish they never even vaped in the first place.

Becoming more popular in the late 2010s, vaping and smoking pens have become more common in schools. MCHS has caught many students vaping or smoking within the last few years.

According to the FDA, the overall tobacco intake for high schoolers has decreased from 16.5% to 12.6% in 2023.

While MCHS is not the only school in the conference with this issue, the question still lingers as to why our numbers are high and what our school is doing to help their students.

“I think [students] vape because it’s a popularity thing about status. I don’t necessarily think they do it because they enjoy doing it,” said MCHS’s student resource officer Richard Rewiako. “I think they do it because everybody else is doing it.”

When a student is caught vaping or smoking the consequences range from both in and out of school suspensions, social probation, athletic season suspension, and citations or tickets.

This all depends on what the students were smoking or vaping and if they have been caught before.

MCHS staff work to monitor the numbers of students smoking. Compared to last year, the numbers for the 23-24 school year are about the same.

“It’s been about the same from last year this year,” said senior dean Jordan Deener. “We see spikes of it where we’ll have high numbers for a week or two and then not come across anything for a couple of weeks.”

However, these are just the students the school has caught. While some students do it out of their addiction or popularity, others do not find it appeasing.

“I think vaping is rather silly. I think it’s an insubstantial way to pass your time,” said junior Olivia Bono.

Sophomore Emily Mella feels it is an issue within high schoolers that is not talked about enough.

While many students are caught every school year, the school does not just punish the students. They understand the kids need help.

“There’s so many different variables around it, but then how do you get support?” said Deener. “Addiction is real, there’s a reason why so many kids feel the need to bring them to school.”

Because of this, MCHS has taken strides in helping students who vape and smoke and encouraging them to quit. There are classes and/or courses students can take and watch when they are caught. They are information that can help the student realize the damage being done to themselves.

“There is always more to learn and to know, even if kids take away one or two facts from it [the program] that could be the reason they close their usage, or stop all together,” said Deener.

While this program does not have a lot of buzz around it, students find it useful and rewarding.

“This program has benefited me. I have learned about more of the consequences of vaping than I had realized there were. Knowing these dangers inspired me to quit, and I have noticed significant changes in my life,” said one student at MCHS who preferred to remain anonymous.*

“I have nearly completely quit and I couldn’t be more proud of myself because everything that’s in the vapes is ridiculous,” said another anonymous student.*

As always though, while something may be beneficial to some, others do not see it that way.

“The program didn’t help me too much, I continued to vape and I wasn’t persuaded to quit in any way at all,” said an anonymous student.* While this student has quit, they do not give much credit to the program.

Not everyone wants help, but the students with an open mind often leave the program feeling motivated to slow their usage or to quit smoking and or vaping. The school recognizes that quitting is hard and you can not simply punish a student for their addiction.

“The goal is to not just consequence and punish,” said Deener.

*All students in the program have remained anonymous and were interviewed by Jordan Deener in order to maintain complete anonymity.