Latest / Inside the OSD / S3 E3 - Teen Vaping - What You Need to Know Ft. Juanita Weinert, Amy Miller, Ronin Hannibal, and Robert Daun

Transcript

S3 E3 - Teen Vaping - What You Need to Know Ft. Juanita Weinert, Amy Miller, Ronin Hannibal, and Robert Daun · Inside the OSD

• 0:00
  SPEAKER1: Today we're talking about a very serious topic related to vaping and the challenges with disposing of vape cartridges.
• 0:07
  We'll hear from Amy Miller, Juanita Weinert, and two student leaders who are working to spread awareness about this important topic.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER2: Welcome to this episode of Inside the OSD podcast, where it's all about the kids.
• 0:22
  Here is your host, lifelong educator, and our superintendent, Doctor Leslie Bergstrom.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER1: Could you please introduce yourself and tell our listeners about your background in the OSD and your role with respect to this topic?
• 0:39
  SPEAKER3: Yeah, I'm Juanita Weinert, and I am in my 24th year here at Oregon High School, a teacher.
• 0:47
  I teach health classes and family and consumer science courses.
• 0:52
  And so I would say my role as a health teacher has brought me into, um, you know, researching and kind of talking
• 1:02
  about this topic today.
• 1:03
  Thank you.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER4: And I'm Amy Miller.
• 1:06
  As the community ed.
• 1:07
  director, my focus was very, very much on wellness and wellness in the category of healthy active kids are better learners.
• 1:15
  So focusing on the positive of get enough sleep, eat, eat well, exercise, and positive coping habits.
• 1:23
  So the reason I am very interested in this topic is the concern and the recent concern, probably in the last ten years, about what we now
• 1:33
  know about the dangers of nicotine and how it damages the developing teen brain and body.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER1: Okay, now that's a wonderful lead in for the next question.
• 1:42
  What can you tell us about this serious topic of vaping among teens in general?
• 1:48
  And then what do parents and adults in our community need to know?
• 1:56
  SPEAKER3: Well, there's so much to--to talk about when it comes to vaping.
• 2:01
  I guess what I started observing what it was doing to our kids when, um, the e-cigarettes came out on the market
• 2:11
  and just the shift in what you're noticing in the classroom and through observation.
• 2:17
  So then knowing that that was something we really needed to because health is a--is a shifting curriculum because we focus on
• 2:26
  what where the kids are at.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER1: It needs to be relevant.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER3: Yes, yes.
• 2:31
  And so I think that is where, um, you know, I noticed the how serious it was.
• 2:38
  And then, um, I think our parents and our community, you know, I think it's not looking at everyone is using.
• 2:47
  It's just keeping your eyes and ears open to listening to our kids, you know, listening to their concerns and knowing that they
• 2:57
  are exposed to kids that are using.
• 3:01
  And so just learning how to stand up under that peer pressure.
• 3:06
  And yeah.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER1: That's always been something that you've done a lot of modeling with in the class, right?
• 3:11
  How to stand up to peer pressure?
• 3:13
  SPEAKER3: Yeah, we--actually that was our last unit was on peer pressure.
• 3:17
  We shifted that a little bit this year as well.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER1: Yeah. Super relevant.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER4: Um, just to add to that, I would say knowing that and most people have heard of Juul, the manufacturer, and that their products
• 3:31
  started selling to teens and clearly, clearly marketing to teens between 2013 to about 2018.
• 3:40
  And as adults in the school, as educators, as parents.
• 3:44
  We were unaware of this targeted marketing.
• 3:48
  And by the time we became aware as a system, when we typically do our Dane County Youth assessment every three years and in
• 3:56
  2018, 30.9% of our high school students reported vaping in the--or use of e-cigarettes in the last
• 4:06
  12 months, which was shocking to us.
• 4:09
  Yes. And at that point, we came together as health educators, as wellness people, and started talking about what we can do because
• 4:19
  obviously there is misinformation and targeted marketing to our youth.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER1: Absolutely. I think years ago, at the beginning of this vaping, I'd almost say epidemic.
• 4:32
  I think that people didn't know what they were finding in their kid's pockets, and very often thought they were flash drives or something else.
• 4:39
  And so there was a big opportunity to educate families on what they should be looking for.
• 4:45
  And then where can families learn more about what they should do if they are concerned that their teen is vaping, and then what supports available at OHS?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER4: So a couple of things up front is - number one thing that parents and community members need to know is nicotine is highly addictive.
• 5:03
  It is one of the most highly addictive chemicals there are.
• 5:07
  It affects the developing brain and body, obviously, as well as adult bodies.
• 5:12
  The devices themselves have metals and other things.
• 5:17
  As part of the development of that which gets into your lungs as well.
• 5:22
  So there are so many different layers of danger for youth developing bodies.
• 5:28
  But on the other side, what Miss Weinert talked about was if our community perception or a school perception or a youth perception is everyone
• 5:37
  is vaping or a lot of people are vaping, then there is a belief it normalizes.
• 5:43
  And what we want to make sure that our families and our community understands is there is a small number of students that are vaping.
• 5:50
  We are concerned about those students.
• 5:52
  It is a public health issue.
• 5:54
  We want to help those students, but we need parents to help their teens and pre-teens to understand it's not everyone.
• 6:01
  We completed a Dane County Youth Assessment in February of 2024, and our high school students reported use in the last 12
• 6:11
  months. Vaping in the last 12 months was 11.2%.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER1: That's a significant drop from 2018 and
• 6:17
  SPEAKER4: 89% are not vaping.
• 6:19
  And our youth, Robert and Ronan will be speaking to that shortly.
• 6:22
  Our middle school, there was a 5% report that students at the middle school in the last 12 months, 5% of the students reported
• 6:32
  vaping. So there's the two messages of it's dangerous and how it's dangerous to the developing brain and body, but also a misperception that
• 6:42
  many people are doing it.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER1: I really appreciate that you said that because it's important for families and for kids to know that it is not many people, um, very concerned about those who
• 6:54
  are, but it is not many.
• 6:56
  And, um, the other piece connected to that is the perception of a danger connected to vaping for our middle school
• 7:06
  students. If I remember correctly, the most recent Dane County Youth assessment showed an increase in the number of students at the middle school level who
• 7:15
  didn't believe it was a problem or a danger.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER4: Danger to themselves.
• 7:19
  Correct. It's not wrong or very wrong to use.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER1: Um, so every step along this way, we have found points that we could supply information, whether it's to parents to help them
• 7:32
  understand what they should be looking for, or it's to students to help them understand the danger to their developing body.
• 7:40
  So an issue related to vaping is the--oh, one thing I did not get to.
• 7:45
  I want to go back. What support is available at OHS?
• 7:49
  SPEAKER3: So um, last year we put up signs around the school just saying if you feel you might be hooked
• 7:59
  on, you know, the drug nicotine, then can--you--here's where you can reach out.
• 8:06
  It's--it's confidential for the students.
• 8:09
  Um, and I think I went all year thinking, "oh, I'm not going to have any students." And then all of a sudden at the end of the year, I had a number, a
• 8:19
  nice large group of students who I learned a lot about to--to be able to move this forward.
• 8:25
  Right. Um, and they really talked about their--where they started young.
• 8:30
  So starting in the middle school or before that and the addiction, they talked about how hard it is to quit.
• 8:38
  And so they just--they want to move this forward to inform more um, teens, um, as to be able to
• 8:48
  support even our younger generation coming up.
• 8:52
  So that's wonderful.
• 8:53
  You know, it's something I think any parent could reach to the school.
• 8:57
  Um, and there's so--there's resources and student services.
• 9:01
  So I think it's just a simple call to the office to say, "hey, who could I talk to about this?" I could be one resource, but there's many resources.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER1: I think we have some good resources on our website, too, that if people wanted to do some of their own learning prior to reaching out, I think there's plenty
• 9:19
  available for that.
• 9:20
  But I'm really grateful that students found a safe space and a safe person in you, because that is the first step to to making decisions that will make
• 9:30
  themselves healthier people.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER4: So what's nice about the cessation program is, number one, we are one of the few, um, programs--in person cessation programs in the state of Wisconsin.
• 9:40
  I'm on a lot of state level meetings, and it is really, really exciting that Juanita opted in to being trained.
• 9:47
  She is a trained facilitator for a cessation program, and with the information she gleaned from the students she's working with who some are opting in because
• 9:57
  they just know they need help, and some maybe had some kind of a violation and it opened a door for help.
• 10:03
  So there's multiple pathways to get help.
• 10:06
  But what the information from the students did was we now have a trained facilitator at our middle school, because if students are starting early,
• 10:16
  the earlier we can stop them on that path, the sooner we can get them on that path toward their goals.
• 10:22
  And nicotine and vaping definitely can interfere with short term and long term goals.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER1: Absolutely.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER4: The other thing to keep in mind, if you are not comfortable talking to the school about a situation like this, contact your pediatrician or your
• 10:38
  family physician.
• 10:39
  They are well equipped in helping support cessation efforts.
• 10:44
  Sometimes, depending on the level of nicotine involvement, they may need to use a medical medicine to be able to support positive change.
• 10:54
  So maybe it's school, maybe it's home, but know that there's someone to reach out to.
• 10:59
  We all understand that there's many reasons students start, and nobody ever started saying, "I want to get addicted." It's "I used for a reason or I'm using
• 11:08
  for coping and now I can't stop."
• 11:12
  SPEAKER1: I'm so glad that you mentioned the possibility of reaching out to a pediatrician or a family physician, because I understand sometimes people don't want to turn
• 11:21
  to the school. So I'm glad that you put that out there as an option.
• 11:25
  So an issue related to vaping, of course, is vape cartridges and their safe disposal.
• 11:31
  And you've been working with two of our student leaders on this topic.
• 11:34
  And before we turn to our students, can you give us an overview of how you came upon this particular issue?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER4: Well, I would say originally for me, it would be walking my dog.
• 11:46
  Um, walking in the community, seeing a vape Cartridge, a leftover vape cartridge, or a crushed vape cartridge on the sidewalk, and thinking about dogs
• 11:54
  and young children wondering what happens to it.
• 11:58
  Understanding that the vape manufacturers are trying to stay away ahead of federal regulations.
• 12:05
  So now the vape devices that we have looked at are all one molded piece of plastic.
• 12:11
  And the more I have had opportunities to learn through regional and national webinars and understanding what's in that molded piece of plastic.
• 12:20
  The lithium battery is not recyclable in standard recycling.
• 12:24
  It is a hazardous waste.
• 12:26
  Also inside that device is nicotine, which is an acute hazardous waste.
• 12:33
  And we were able to have a conversation with students we were working with on our positive social norming and their advocacy.
• 12:40
  And once we brought forward that idea of this is really dangerous, we happen to have a student in AP biology.
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  What was your--environmental?
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  Environmental science. Environmental science!
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  And it became a very passionate issue.
• 12:59
  So finding out it's local and most of us have seen the devices locally, and then learning more about the dangers and realizing that on the
• 13:09
  packaging it says possibly throw it in the trash.
• 13:13
  It may say recycle it.
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  We know that's wrong, but the average person does not.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER1: Thank you very much.
• 13:21
  So now let's turn to our students.
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  So if you could each please introduce yourself to our audience.
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  SPEAKER5: Um, I'm Ronan Hannibal, a senior here at OHS, and I have been working on this, uh, alcohol and drug abuse awareness program or
• 13:38
  campaign for a little over a year now.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER1: Thank you.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER5: Uh, yeah. My name is Robert Daun.
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  I'm also a senior here at OHS.
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  Um, again, Ronan and I and another student met about 14-15 months ago.
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  Um, we call ourselves the Positive Social Norming Group.
• 13:54
  I love it, and we've been working towards educating the community around us.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER1: Well, can you please describe the project you've been working on to our listeners?
• 14:02
  This is really interesting.
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  SPEAKER5: Um, the specific project in the box forming now or the overall campaign?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER1: Well, you can do both.
• 14:10
  I'd love to hear about both of them.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER5: Overall, I'd say in the past 14, 15 months we've been working on educating the students and staff here at OHS about the
• 14:22
  misconceptions surrounding vapes and abuse of substances here at OHS.
• 14:30
  Um, yeah.
• 14:32
  I think to add on to that, um, we've definitely focused in on our students and classmates around us, but we also want to take a community aspect to it.
• 14:41
  Um, not just Oregon, but Dane County and whole.
• 14:44
  And these two campaigns really do overlap each other.
• 14:47
  Um, but it's really great to see the changes that we've been able to make around us in general.
• 14:52
  Yeah, with the, um, we were able to use the Dane County Youth Assessment to--really it came in at the perfect time, a couple months after we had started
• 15:01
  this campaign with, uh, um, educating the students and staff here.
• 15:07
  Um, we saw numbers go down with awareness and misconceptions, which was really positive and really nice to see because we we started
• 15:17
  the slogan of "Join the Crowd," which stemmed from, uh, seeing that the actual amount of people that use at OHS is a lot lower than
• 15:26
  the perceived, uh, idea of amount of people that use OHS, like we would see, uh, staff and students regularly say, thinking
• 15:36
  that 30 to 50% of students may be using and the number is much closer to below 10%.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER1: So you're helping people gain a better understanding of the current reality.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER5: Yeah for sure. And then with that, um, allows there to almost be, uh, I wouldn't say, um, more hope, I guess for sure.
• 15:56
  Or, um, more of a, um, good basis to start off of, and especially people who don't use seeing, um, that a lot less people use
• 16:06
  than they may think make it seem like it isn't popular.
• 16:10
  It's something that isn't, um, not necessarily something that, you know, comes with life, I guess, or something that definitely has to be a part of
• 16:20
  or, uh, is used in daily or daily aspects in life, I guess.
• 16:26
  Yeah. So, for example, last year we had the chance to talk to the staff of Oregon High School.
• 16:32
  Um, and we did a real time poll, um, with how many people they expect to be, um, vaping in our,
• 16:42
  our high school.
• 16:43
  And that gave us data.
• 16:46
  And we kind of noticed the fact that students usually look up to their educators as maybe not role models, but people that they can help and they can
• 16:55
  trust. Sure.
• 16:57
  Um, so it was good for us to educate them in order to educate the students around us, too.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER1: Do you remember what percentage of the student body are staff believed are used, and is that using just vaping or AOD in general?
• 17:12
  Alcohol and other drugs in general?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER5: It was solely vaping.
• 17:16
  Okay. Thank you. They guessed around 50%.
• 17:20
  Wow. Um, when in reality, it was only ten.
• 17:23
  Wow. So we're not just trying to change the misperceptions within students, but also.
• 17:27
  Absolutely. Us, too.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER1: Yeah. So how did that lead to the second project then?
• 17:32
  Which is safe--Safe disposal?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER5: Well, we would see on, like, uh, Amy Miller previously mentioned on these packages, it would say that throwing away in a trash
• 17:43
  or, um, mostly like throwing away in a trash was okay.
• 17:48
  Um, and it didn't mention the huge environmental impacts that disposing of lithium batteries and plastic waste just out on
• 17:57
  sidewalks and into the into the grass is really harmful for the environment.
• 18:03
  Uh, yeah. So we realized this problem and we wanted to make a change.
• 18:07
  Yeah. Um, last spring, we got the chance to talk with some Dane County executives about this problem, and we believe we really influenced them.
• 18:16
  About two weeks after our conversation, um, the safe disposal of vape devices and vape cartridges showed up on the Clean Sweep.
• 18:24
  Wow. Website.
• 18:25
  So that was a reflection of our work and how we're trying to better the community around us.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER1: Oh, absolutely. Seeing the positive impact you had in such a clear and really quick manner.
• 18:39
  Um, that must have been a really great feeling.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER5: Yeah, I think--I think it--it also is just a good sign in general that the campaign is making real progress and that this is something that, you know,
• 18:52
  we--we can change this.
• 18:54
  This isn't, um, like a wide like--the epidemic doesn't need to continue to spread or, um, necessarily like there are, um, outlets and ways
• 19:04
  to change the, um, the amount that people are vaping and help helping those people and making sure that, like, you know,
• 19:14
  there are people who are going to vape and that, you know, if you're going to use, then, you know, to dispose of it in a more environmentally conscious way
• 19:22
  than, you know, destroying the environment with, um, the, like, the lithium batteries and such that really, um, when, when put in a or
• 19:32
  disposed of in a proper way is um, certainly better for the environment, I guess.
• 19:38
  Yeah.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER1: So what is the most important thing you've learned since being a part of this project?
• 19:42
  For either of you.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER5: That's a really good question.
• 19:45
  I think for me it was the environmental aspect.
• 19:47
  Yeah. Um, after that meeting that we had with the Dane County executives, another student and I had the chance to compete at Madison College, um,
• 19:57
  on a business plan competition, and ours was focused around the environment and basically the safe disposal of chemicals.
• 20:06
  Yeah. Um, how they're harming our waterways.
• 20:07
  So it kind of illuminated a path for me about how we can change the community.
• 20:13
  We can also change, like the social norms and environmental norms around us.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER1: That's really cool.
• 20:18
  How about you, Ronan?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER5: Um, for me, it's for sure that I feel like there's a pretty good understanding that vaping and cigarettes are bad for you.
• 20:28
  But I do really feel like people don't understand the severity that it holds.
• 20:33
  I mean, a simple, you know, like, uh, one vape that you would see at a store is about 25,000 puffs.
• 20:42
  But that, like puff metric, is kind of hard to understand.
• 20:46
  So pretty blatantly, most of those vapes hold up to about 100--100 boxes of cigarettes, um, in each individual vape, which--that's remarkable.
• 20:55
  Yeah. For sure.
• 20:56
  I mean, just, you know, it's pretty--it's pretty blatant.
• 21:00
  And, you know, that's a lot.
• 21:01
  And that's, um, and it's just it's something that I feel like.
• 21:05
  Yeah, it's cigarettes.
• 21:08
  Um, there were campaigns and cigarettes died down in the late 90s, early 2000, and then vaping came up on a rise.
• 21:14
  And I feel like people don't understand that vaping is just another extension of smoking cigarettes, and honestly, is probably a lot worse for you, even
• 21:24
  though it started off as an alternative, a better alternative now.
• 21:28
  I mean, vapes are very blatantly marketed towards children with these colorful, um, names and flavors.
• 21:36
  It's it's obvious that, um, these companies have a campaign to market towards young teens, just like cigarette companies preyed on teens
• 21:46
  for 100 years plus.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER1: Wow. So as you reflect on your time here in the school district, what do you think you'll take away from your experiences at OHS?
• 21:57
  And then what's next for you?
• 22:01
  SPEAKER5: Uh, I think specifically this group, um, it really helped me become a leader, uh, throughout my school.
• 22:08
  Um, because I saw that when I had newfound knowledge, I can spread it to my peers.
• 22:13
  Um. And I can better every everybody around me.
• 22:16
  Um, I think that's super important to take into college and into the workforce, because it really helps you take charge, and you can make a difference around
• 22:25
  you anywhere. Uh, yeah.
• 22:27
  Building off that, I think this whole campaign and, um, the general, uh, I guess, yeah, the campaign itself really, um,
• 22:37
  forced me to think critically about, um, harder things.
• 22:42
  And it definitely I mean, it made me present to, um, larger groups and, you know, stuff that I never would have imagined as a freshman I would--I would end
• 22:51
  up doing and definitely helped me as a speaker.
• 22:55
  Um, thinking about problems in the world, um, like this definitely invigorated my passion for issues like, um, I've definitely become a lot more involved in
• 23:05
  politics and, um, just like, generally like, issues, um, like, I like to keep myself informed.
• 23:13
  And this is one of those things that really like you need I feel like it's really important to know about the severity and issues, along with many other
• 23:23
  things and facets in life.
• 23:25
  And I think that's really, um, it really helped me get passion or I guess, um, yeah, really ignited my passion for, um, certain issues.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER1: Well, as I'm listening to the two of you, I can't imagine, honestly, two better examples of our Portrait of a Graduate.
• 23:43
  I mean, all of the different skills that you are incorporating into your quest to make things better for other people.
• 23:50
  Thank you so much for speaking with us on behalf of our entire district.
• 23:55
  I want you to know what an important effort this is, and how impressed we are and how proud we are of your work.
• 24:03
  Remember that you can find links to all episodes of Inside the OSD and submit topic ideas on our website at Oregon
• 24:11
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• 24:18
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• 24:24
  We'll see you next time on Inside the OSD, where it's all about the kids.