According to Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, vaping has increased 900 percent since 2010. Due to this statistic, and since it relates directly to the lives of teen agers, the “Ursus” staff thinks that vaping needs to be talked about more often in middle school health classes.

Bedford health teachers need to start building an army of students who make smart, informed decisions, therby creating a generation of students who will think before they decide to vape and who can help spread the message that vaping is not safe.

Vaping can be addicting, and in some cases, illegal. Therefore we need to control the amount of vaping in schools. In order to do this, the “Ursus” staff also thinks teachers need more training to detect vaping students and activity. Dr. Adam Rosen had the right idea to circulate pictures of vaping paraphenalia to the Bedford staff. If teachers know what to look for, they will more easily be able to limit the amount of vaping in school.

We also think that schools should think about increasing the penalties for students who bring vapes to school. If the consequences are greater, students might be less likely to do it. Tougher consequences could help students receive the message that vaping in school is not tolerated.

With more education, more training for teachers to detect vaping, and an increase in the consequences schools can apply, schools can limit the amount of vaping at school.