Early Conversations with Teens About Vaping –
The bad-smelling distinguishable cloud of smoke from our parents’ cigarettes is mostly a thing of the past. For today’s tweens and teens, it’s become flavored liquid cartridges in what looks like a USB drive put into colorful vape pens. While parents of tweens and teens are likely familiar with e-cigarettes, the vaping trend continues to be popular.
According to a 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey, 10 percent of U.S. high school students use e-cigarettes, which remain the most commonly used tobacco product among youths. While from 2022 to 2023, there was a decrease in use for high school students from 14 to 10 percent, there was an increase in current overall tobacco product use among middle school students.
Also, the report states, “almost 9 out of 10 current e-cigarette users (89.4%) used flavored e-cigarettes, with fruit flavors being the most popular, followed by candy, desserts, or other sweets; mint; and menthol.”
For youth vaping, Dr. Kristin Lambert-Jenkins, pediatrician and adolescent medical medicine at Akron Children’s, says vaping typically begins between the ages of 11 and 18.
“Vaping didn’t exist a decade ago or when we were kids,” she says. “It’s everywhere. (Youth) might be getting it sometimes from parents, or friends, or dealers, or ‘pushers’ as kids call them sometimes.”
“It starts early,” Lambert-Jenkins says, adding it’s important for parents to keep kids busy in the right activities and to know who your teen might be hanging out with and if their immediate social circle vapes.
However, parents might not immediately know if their child is using. If a teen was using the product, evidence might be finding a vape device or cartridge, or a new sweet smell, whether in the house or the teen’s car that can’t be pinpointed to anything else.
It’s been long known that nicotine products are harmful. For those vaping, they can develop EVALI, which stands for e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury and can happen with even first-time use. According to the American Lung Association, while symptoms can be similar to other respiratory diseases, the course of the illness is unpredictable and most patients require hospitalization to fight the inflammation of the lungs.
“The cartridges that have nicotine or weed are based in oil,” Lambert-Jenkins says. “Our bodies are made of water. Our bodies process things that are water based, not oil-based because water and oil don’t mix. When you are inhaling something from an e-cigarette that is oil-based, it causes the lung to get very angry and inflamed. Things I worry about are respiratory or lung injury. We have seen kids in the hospital and even the ICU.”
While vaping is not an easy topic to speak to your tweens and teens about, it’s an important discussion to have with them.
“Just telling your kids don’t do it, that’s bad and not giving them any additional information, isn’t going to change statistically whether or not they go out and experiment,” Lambert-Jenkins says. “Unfortunately, the adolescent brain, which is underdeveloped, are more likely to take risks and try something, which is fairly developmentally appropriate for them to (try to) find a place in this world. It’s a hard task to be an adolescent. It’s not easy to be a teenager.”
She feels that you have to be honest with your kids and talk about the risks of vaping or marijuana use.
“This is going to be an awkward (conversation),” she says. “Being direct and owning the fact that it’s a difficult conversation. Keep it light, humorous, not accusatory.”
She says to start asking questions if you do find out your teen is vaping.
“It’s knowing your kids and their circumstances,” Lambert-Jenkins says. “Try to get an understanding of what the substance is doing for your child, is there an underlying issue that needs to be addressed (such as anxiety, depression, anxious, etc.) Don’t be shy about asking your pediatrician for help or asking for referrals to an addiction services center.”
For parents who vape and are concerned if their children picked up the habit, it might be time to think about quitting.
Lambert-Jenkins, who says she understands it’s hard to quit, notes if you don’t want your children using vape or marijuana, being that role model at home is important and there are a lot of resources to seek out for help.