Watermelon, cherries, blueberries, ice cream, and cookies.
The students in the classroom in front of me, who are 10 and 11 years old, are genuinely listing the flavours of vapes they are familiar with, even though they seem like delicious after-school munchies.
The kids are surrounded by colourful folders and wall displays, so they are aware of the surge in vaping.
About half of them raise their hands to indicate that they have been offered a try when I ask them to do so.
Wearing a stylish royal blue school jumper, Evie claims that she was offered a vaporizer a few days ago but declined it.
The cause? When she was eight years old, a few years prior, she had tried one and didn’t enjoy it.
I had been coerced into tasting it by a buddy. It really wasn’t to my taste.
She described the taste as being similar to inhaling fire.
According to another girl, I was handed a vape pen by an anonymous 14-year-old male when I was ten years old.
He approached me and inquired, “Would you like to give this a try?”
He replied, “Something that will make you feel good,” when I inquired what it was.
Lucas, who stood up straight to listen to what people were saying, said he hasn’t been persuaded but that other kids were encouraged to try them since they believed them to be safer due to the brightly coloured packaging and fruity flavours.
One in five children between the ages of 11 and 17 has tried vaping, according to research by the charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). That, according to them, represents a 50% increase in just two years.
While vaping is thought to be less dangerous than smoking, physicians warn that vaping can impair young people’s lungs, hearts, and brains over time. Vapes include substances like nicotine.
Earlier this year, new regulations were revealed that would outlaw disposable vapes completely and impose a new vaping tax. However, these laws were not approved prior to the dissolution of Parliament.
Limits on vaping are particularly mentioned in the manifestos of several political parties running for general election, and proponents hope that these laws will be passed.
The instructor in the class we are interacting with at Bradford’s Reevy Hill Primary School is Eve Pinder.
She calls for a “bigger push” to address the issue of vaping sooner in the national curriculum, calling the experiences of the kids in front of her “sad.”
We cannot shield kids from their obvious susceptibility at this age, but we can assist them in making better decisions if we educate them.
To inform the students about the risks associated with vaping, the school has hired the Step 2 charity to conduct a workshop inside the classroom.
The deterrence seminars have been introduced in the city’s elementary schools in an effort to curb the increasing number of younger kids who are picking up the habit.
The health charity’s youth worker, Andy Gibbs, explains that the classes started as a means of “planting the seed” of awareness in younger kids.
He claims that vaping could become “normalised and accepted” by the time kids enter secondary school.
Our initial focus was on high schools, but after realising that teens are more likely to start vaping in their seventh and eighth year, we decided to concentrate on years five and six in order to spread awareness, debunk some misunderstandings, and encourage conversation among young people about the problem.
Many of the older kids will most likely be vaping already, and the younger kids will probably accept it.
Really, it’s about bucking that peer pressure.
In their manifestos for the general election, the three major political parties listed the harm caused by smoking and vaping as one of their health goals.
In the first King’s Speech, the Conservatives promised to introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
Labour has promised to outlaw the branding and advertising of vapes in a way that appeals to minors.
Reducing the appeal of vaping to minors is another top aim for Lib Dem health policy.
For Evie, everything is easy.
She tells me that today I’ve learned that vapes contain harmful metals that can harm your lungs.
She claims to observe kids using vapes on their way to and from school, sometimes along with older kids.
Many young children I know are attempting them, and it is detrimental to them.
I find it disgusting that kids find it appealing.
If any of the issues discussed in this article are causing problems for you, please do not hesitate to contact us, and we will try to assist you in any way possible.