- Students, it seems, will always try to smoke in the bathroom.
- One Long Island school installed vape detectors in its middle school bathrooms to stop them.
- The devices detect THC and nicotine in the air and even alert administrators.
Schools are cracking down on students using weed vapes and e-cigarettes during the school day.
In New York, e-cigarettes have been banned from public and private schools since 2017, but that hasn't stopped crafty students who have apparently continued the age-old tradition of smoking in the bathroom.
Now, one Long Island school went as far as installing vape detectors in its bathrooms to sniff out nicotine and THC, CBS News reported.
At Lindenhurst Middle School, each student bathroom has two vape detectors, a development that was suggested by a student who was concerned about her friends becoming addicted to vaping, according to CBS.
The devices, called FlySense, were developed by Soter Technologies "to detect vape and changes in air quality," according to the company's website.
When smoke is detected, the school principal gets an automatic email, and students caught vaping are connected to professional help, CBS reported.
Frank Naccarato, the school principal, said in an email to Business Insider that there are a total of 24 detectors in use at the school, and they have thus far intercepted two students vaping.
"They each had a consequence and went through the process of doing research on how vaping can hurt you. We believe that now that the students know that we have them it will cut down the number of students using them in the building," Naccarato told BI via email.
It comes amid additional crackdowns on school behavior. Last week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a bill that would ban smartphones in public schools. Though Hochul doesn't plan to formally file the bill until the next legislative session begins in 2025, the reception among New York students has been tepid at best.
"If there was, like, an emergency at school you wouldn't be able to contact your parents right away," Alaiya Martinez, a New York high school student, told WWNY.
Vape companies like Juul went from being incredibly popular among young people to being slammed by lawsuits accusing the company of marketing its addictive product to children. Juul ultimately paid a $462 million settlement. Vaping remains popular among young people, however, and other nicotine products — like Zyn pouches — have proven trendy as well.
To school administrators like Naccarato, it's a "major issue throughout the country," he said.
"All of these companies that produce vapes are targeting kids so that they have lifelong users," Naccarato told BI. "I truly believe that Lindenhurst will be an example for other districts that want to try and stop students from starting."
Update June 14, 2024: This story has been updated with comments from Lindenhurst Middle School's principal.
Watch: FDA Bans Juul, Here's How We Got Here
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