COPENHAGEN, New York (WWNY) – When kids vape in school, it can be very discreet. In fact, some vape pens can look like everyday school supplies. How do schools combat it? There’s a new tool.
At Copenhagen Central School, two bathrooms are equipped with two vape sensors.
“We can move them whenever we like, and they’re (students) not privy to that information,” said Olivia Boucher, who wrote the grant proposal to buy the sensors.
The school was awarded $2,500 to purchase the sensors through the Safe Schools Endeavor in partnership with the Northern New York Community Foundation.
The school’s Youth Advisory Council and Parent Teacher Organization also chipped in.
When a sensor goes off, it sends an alert to the administrators’ email and phone.
Boucher says it can be hard to tell what is a vape and what is not because of its smell.
“For us as staff, it’s hard for us to know. Is it a lotion? Is it a body spray? Are they coming back from PE and going to the bathroom and spraying themselves with something,” she said.
Vapes not only smell discreet, they look discreet, and are commonly disguised as school supplies, like a highlighter or a USB port.
“They can very easily be used in a school setting,” said Alliance for Better Communities’ Anita Seefried-Brown.
She says the number of students vaping continues to rise.
“Our 2022 prevention needs assessment indicates that students in 7th grade are using at about 7 percent. Students in 10th grade, it rose to about 15. And by the time in 12th grade, it is a consumption rate of 17 percent,” she said.
She says many underestimate how dangerous it can truly be.
“To finish one vape is the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes,” she said.
For Copenhagen Central, the vape sensors, for the most part, have done their job.
“It doesn’t prevent kids from vaping, but it does deter kids from vaping in school. They’re in school a majority of the day, which is going to reduce their overall use. So for us, it’s a win,” said Boucher.
Boucher says the hope is to purchase more sensors in the future.
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