Unforeseeable consequences when students use electronic cigarettes

In addition to affecting the school cultural environment, the use of electronic cigarettes is causing students to face dangerous health consequences.

In early March this year, information about a male student studying at a high school in Vinh city was found guilty of using and being drunk.electronic cigarettefell from the 3rd floor of the classroom, leaving many parents surprised.

Meanwhile, many students believe that the use of e-cigarettes has become so common that they are no longer “strange” to occasionally see some students showing signs of e-cigarette intoxication, in which mild symptoms include frequently falling asleep during class, feeling pale, and feeling tired; severe symptoms include “being high, having hallucinations” and the most severe symptoms are “drug shock” with symptoms similar to a drug addict foaming at the mouth, vomiting, and not being able to control themselves.

Many students use tobacco regularly. Photo: My Ha

The use of e-cigarettes is not only concentrated among high school students but also has the potential to spread to younger people. A parent in Hung Dung Ward (Vinh City) also said that she was really surprised when her homeroom teacher announced: Although only in 7th grade, there was a student in the class who not only encouraged his friends to use e-cigarettes, but was also willing to sell them to other students if they needed them.

Student Tran Ho Hien Anh, grade 9 student at Cua Nam Secondary School (Vinh City) added: At school, friends often use e-cigarettes secretly to avoid cameras. Recently, there are even students under 12 years old using e-cigarettes. I have also been invited by my friends.

Masks with slogans saying no to e-cigarettes were distributed free of charge to students at Cua Nam Secondary School (Vinh City). Photo: My Ha

Many parents seek medical advice when their children show signs of stress, confusion, irritability, and dropping out of school. Through research, I learned that children use e-cigarettes without their parents knowing. Some of these drugs are addictive, so using them can be very serious.

Doctor Nguyen Canh Hung - Deputy Director of Nghe An Mental Hospital

At Le Viet Thuat High School (Vinh City), since the Lunar New Year of Quy Mao, the school has discovered a number of cases of electronic cigarette use in the school.

However, through the Youth Union and classes, the statistics are only small numbers, while in reality the number of students using electronic cigarettes "especially outside of school" is very large.

A Youth Union meeting of students at Le Viet Thuat High School (Vinh City) on the topic of electronic cigarettes. Photo: My Ha

Teacher Hoang Minh Luong - Principal of the school said: The biggest concern in preventing electronic cigarettes is the situation of students using them outside of school.

To prevent this situation, most recently, the school invited the city police force to talk to the entire school about the dangers of using electronic cigarettes.

Every week, in addition to regular reminders and monitoring during meetings between the secretary and the homeroom teacher, the school also requires red flag teams to check during recess. Offending students are educated by the school and their parents are invited to come and write a commitment. The school has also installed cameras at many locations to increase monitoring and tracking of students' situations.

Propagating the harmful effects of electronic cigarettes to students at Cua Nam Secondary School (Vinh City). Photo: My Ha

Teacher Nguyen Nu Thanh Nghe - a teacher at Cua Nam Secondary School also chose the topic of solutions to prevent electronic cigarettes in schools to participate in the provincial competition for excellent homeroom teachers. Through directly helping many students "quit" electronic cigarettes, she said that students turn to cigarettes mainly out of curiosity and misconception without knowing the consequences.

The first time I heard about e-cigarettes, I was very surprised because they looked like pens and when students used them, teachers didn’t know at all. Later, the forms became more and more diverse, sometimes like USB sticks, sometimes like candy. Students can easily access e-cigarettes through friends, social networks, and Tiktok, and for just a few tens of thousands of dong, they can buy and use them widely.

Teacher Nguyen Nu Thanh Nghe - teacher at Cua Nam Secondary School

A current problem is that smoking electronic cigarettes is not prohibited by law, so it is difficult to coordinate with authorities, especially the police, to handle violations.

Therefore, the best solution now is to increase supervision from parents and schools, promote propaganda and mobilization work so that students can see the dangers to their health and have the awareness to prevent them./.