This December, Lincoln Southeast’s bathrooms went from mildly crowded to ghost towns during class time. A potential cause for this shift could be due to the installation of vape detectors after LPS received a $1 million settlement from major vape company, Juul.
According to the CDC, nearly 1.63 million middle and high school students in the U.S. currently use e-cigarettes or vapes. To help curb this highly prevalent issue, LPS joined a class action lawsuit, along with other large school districts across the nation, against Juul. This lawsuit was based on allegations against Juul for marketing their products towards minors. It ended in a settlement in which LPS alone received $1 million. LPS decided to put the funds back towards the issue that caused the lawsuit in the first place, vaping.
LPS began piloting the vape detectors, which each cost about $1,200, at Lincoln East High School in October of 2023, right as students came back from fall break. Within the first week of East having the detectors, almost 100 alarms went off in bathrooms across the school. By the end of the semester, it was down to just four alarms being triggered in one week.
East Principal Casey Fries believes that part of the reason East started with so many alarms is because some students didn’t think the vape detectors were real. As time went on though, students started to realize that they work and that they are successful. He describes the time it took students to fully understand the detectors as a “learning curve”.
Overall, Fries has seen generally positive opinions on the detectors from students and staff. Students and staff appreciate the detectors because, before they were installed, students felt as if they “couldn’t use a restroom for the purposes that they’re built for”. He understands that some students feel that the detectors are an overreach and that something is being “taken away” but he says the majority of feedback is positive.
Fries believes that the vape detectors have worked well in getting East’s vaping down because before, the bathrooms were a place that didn’t pose a threat to students for getting caught vaping. Students tended to congregate and it was not an easy place for staff to supervise. He recognizes that the detectors will not cause all students to permanently quit vaping, but he hopes that the students who vape because of the ease of it will be able to quit.
LSE Principal Tanner Penrod has similar aspirations for LSE’s vape detectors, which were installed Dec. 2.
“Ideally, big picture, it changes patterns of behavior outside of school. But obviously we don’t have as much control over that as we do within the building,” Penrod said. “I do think over time, we’ll continue to see less usage within the building, and ideally that frees us up to have further conversations with students just about making the right choices.”
Similar to what Fries has observed at East, Penrod has heard mostly positive responses to the new detectors at LSE. One thing that has been helpful for Fries in receiving positive feedback about the detectors is having consistent protocols when it comes to searching students and what happens after a student is caught with a vape.
“[Administrators] don’t have to get in power struggles with students. Either you were in there when it went off and this is the process or you weren’t.”
LSE has implemented a protocol similar to East’s, with some slight variations. When a vape detector goes off in a bathroom at LSE, the following happens: First, administrators are sent a message notifying them that a detector has gone off and which one it is. Then, the administrators go to said bathroom and check for students. They check the trash cans and each of the stalls. If there are no students present in the bathrooms, the cameras which are pointed towards the bathrooms are checked to see who the last students in the bathrooms were. If students are found in the bathroom when the detector goes off they are escorted to the office. In the office, they are taken to a private room and their belongings are searched. Students are also searched using a metal detector wand. The events from there depend on if a student is caught with a vape or not.
For students who are not caught with a vape, a call is still sent home explaining the situation but that the student is not in trouble. For those who are caught with a vape, there’s a more serious consequence. Those students are put into the program Vape Educate.
According to their website, Vape Educate is a series of courses that are “designed to be used as a tool which provides supplemental material to educate students about vaping”. These courses are meant to serve a motivator for students to quit vaping. Though the program is considered successful, as can be expected, there are a handful of students who are reoffenders. Reoffenders are given the opportunity to reduce possible suspensions through taking the Vape Educate programs but if offenses continue, more serious measures are taken. Students may eventually be required to meet with Student Services to discuss an outcome best fit for their situation. This may include long term suspensions, expulsions or reassignments. For most students, consequences most likely won’t make it this far but it is plausible considering that the Vape Educate program isn’t a 100% fool-proof way to instantly quit vaping.
“I do think the programs work for some, obviously not for all. It’s hard because it probably depends on an individual’s level of addiction to it. It’s easy to say ‘don’t do it’ and stuff, but there are people that are really addicted to vaping. And when you can have that strength of nicotine that some of those vapes have, it’s not as simple as just, ‘I’m not gonna do it anymore’ for some people,” Fries said. “But I think probably what we even see more of is the people just either not starting or realizing it’s not worth the risk to do in school because it’s too easy to get caught now.”
As well as Vape Educate not being absolutely perfect, the detectors themselves have had a few glitches because they are highly sensitive. High school staff have seen some tamper alerts which could be from perfume sprays, harsh chemicals from custodial staff cleaning and from vibrations from loud bangs such as lockers closing. LPS hopes to adjust the vape detectors with their computing services in the computing department.
Further, the future of the detectors is very hopeful but not set in stone. Though the vape detectors are costly, LPS is talking about where possible extra money left over should go. After high schools are done installing the detectors, it is planned for them to be installed in all LPS middle schools. From there, Fries hopes to add more prevention curriculum for elementary school students.
“These kids are in elementary schools and are not going out and buying them with fake IDs [nor do] they look old enough to do so. So they’re getting them from home. They’re getting them from an older sibling. They’re getting them from somebody that can get their hands on those things, which we’re seeing can be very dangerous,” Zabawa said. “When we look at some of the synthetic marijuana that are out there, there’s some real adverse effects that we’ve seen with young kids and getting their hands on those devices and ending up getting really sick. So I think if I had my way, we would continue to work on our prevention efforts with all of our schools and use that money up toward that.”
Overall, LPS upholds the idea that the detectors have been installed to help students and prevent them from vaping at school. Additionally, it will make bathrooms a safer space that are being used for their intended purpose.
“[Vapes] are so readily available and so easy for students and minors to access, it has become an issue. I think it has negatively impacted the culture and morale of buildings when people are witnessing people do things that are illegal [and] potentially harmful to one’s health, but it’s not appropriate for a school environment, I think most in our community recognize that to be an issue,” Penrod said.
