By LILY WICHERT

Vaping continues to be a trend amongst students at Bellefonte. Last year, several students were disciplined for vaping in school, with the behavior following into this school year.

The privacy of the bathroom stalls proves to still be the hot spot for vapers, as students bring their vaping devices from home, regularly using them throughout the day any chance they can get.
School Resource Officer Michael Lyons is responsible for finding students who choose to partake in this act, and ensuring it does not happen again. Officer Lyons believes that students follow the trend just because other students are doing it.

“It’s the new thing to do now,” Officer Lyons said. “A lot of them just kind of want to fit in.”

Nicotine is the highly addictive chemical found in most vapes that gives the user a “buzz.” This substance can cause other issues in students’ lives.

“Nicotine is a drug. It’s addictive, so it could obviously lead to other things,” Officer Lyons said.

Some students who partake in this trend feel they need to because they are unable to go a full school day without the feeling the nicotine gives them.

“It’s become a huge problem for me,” an anonymous source said. “I’m constantly late for my classes because I need to get buzzed in the bathroom before I go.”

High School Principal Mr. Michael Fedisson is concerned about the advertisement of vaping, and how young teenagers who choose to vape are unaware of some of the larger consequences.

“It almost seems, in some instances, more dangerous because there is not enough research on it to understand what the impacts are on people’s health,” Mr. Fedisson said.

Vaping on school property is a violation of Bellefonte’s Smoking and Tobacco policy in Section V of the 2018-2019 Student Handbook. Any member of the school district found participating in the act will face the consequences of their own actions.