If you ask educators, student vaping appears to be on the rise.
Seven of 10 teachers, principals, and district leaders surveyed by the EdWeek Research Center in December said they have seen an increase in students vaping—or attempting to—in the past year.
That’s despite federal data that has shown a promising downward trend in the behavior. About 6 percent of middle and high school students reported vaping, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2024 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. That’s down from 7.7 percent in 2023, and 20 percent in 2019. It’s a decline that public health officials have touted as a major win.
But the EdWeek Research Center’s finding is a concerning counterpoint to that data, said Ashley Merianos, a professor of health promotion and education at the University of Cincinnati.
“It is alarming that the majority of educators reported increased use of e-cigarettes among students since this is opposite of what national trends show based on student reports,” she said in an email to Education Week. “This highlights that school-based efforts are crucial to combat adolescent tobacco use and to assist in stopping this generation from future nicotine dependence and addiction.”
What’s behind the discrepancy between the federal and EdWeek Research Center numbers?
One factor could be that the data come from surveys of different groups, said Merianos. Middle and high school students might be underreporting how much they vape. The data for the most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the EdWeek Research Center survey were also collected about a year apart.
More educators saw an increase in vaping than in other nicotine products, such as nicotine gum and nicotine pouches, according to the EdWeek Research Center survey.
Even though vaping may appear from these results to be the biggest concern, nicotine pouches should be on educators’ radars, said Merianos. Nicotine pouches, which are about the size of a piece of chewing gum, are tucked between a user’s gums and cheek, where the nicotine is absorbed directly into the bloodstream. Nicotine pouches and gum are also easier to hide from grownups than e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes.
Strategies schools can use to curb student vaping
That’s why schools are an important source of information on the risks of drug use, Merianos said, and those particular products are becoming more popular with adolescents.
“This is of public health concern since nicotine pouches are a relatively newer class of tobacco products that have high and harmful nicotine levels,” she said. “School-based efforts should focus comprehensively on all tobacco products and educate students about the many consequences of early nicotine use.”
For example, she said, vaping at a young age can lead to using other tobacco products like traditional or “combustible” cigarettes, and nicotine use can hurt adolescent brain development.
Schools can take several steps to curb their students’ use of nicotine products, according to advice experts and school leaders have shared with Education Week. Those recommendations include:
- Have clear policies and plans. Schools should have clear and well-communicated policies about the consequences for using e-cigarettes on campuses. Schools should also have plans for screening students who are addicted to e-cigarettes and getting appropriate help for those students.
- Try to avoid the use of scare tactics or discipline. These approaches won’t work without an education component. Students tune out when they hear them.
- Design an educational approach. This should be broader than just educating students on the dangers of vaping (which surveys show many adolescents don’t know about). It should also employ elements of media literacy in which students are taught to see how advertising campaigns are trying to manipulate them in unhealthy ways.
- Include adults in anti-vaping efforts in meaningful ways. Focusing only on the kids and not involving parents, caregivers, teachers, principals, coaches, and even after-school providers will fail to have a meaningful impact on curbing adolescents’ vaping.
Data analysis for this article was provided by the EdWeek Research Center. Learn more about the center’s work.
