Vaping Concerns Continue to Grow in Alpine Schools
By: Lillian Stewart, Skyline Intern and Eliya Alvidrez, Skyline Reporter
Illustration By Alyn Covington, Skyline Cartoonist
ALPINE - Students vaping on school grounds has become a significant issue and Alpine High School is no exception. Serious health problems can emerge as a result of prolonged vaping and pose a significant threat to students. Efforts to curb the usage of vape devices on school grounds have proven ineffective as the problem persists.
Such an issue raises the question of “Where are students getting vapes?” Since the legal age to purchase any vape product is 21, it’s clear that high schoolers are not purchasing these devices themselves. The Skyline interviewed an employee of Alpine’s local vape shop, Teri’s Vapor Emporium, and he assured us that students are not receiving the vapes from them, as all employees of the shop follow standard ID checking practices.
After speaking with several Alpine High School students, it was made clear that these underage users were mainly obtaining their vape devices from family members. These family members would either buy them for the students brand new from a store or give them a device they were no longer using. Underage users were also able to purchase vapes online, for example from Amazon. While some online purchases of vapes require you to submit a picture of your ID, most are unguarded and available to underage buyers.
Alpine High School Principal Jerret Vickers told the Skyline he is well aware of the vaping issue on campus. He revealed that most vape related incidents on campus to this point have occurred in the women’s restrooms. Vickers said that he and the school's Resource Officer are male, so while they are able to routinely check the boy's restroom, finding female office members who can regularly check the women's restrooms has difficult.
“Three things that jump off to me that the high school is doing is number one, providing education about it. Second, we try to make the punishments for [vaping] as consistent as possible based on what the TEA (Texas Education Administration) tells us, and the third thing that we have started doing in the high school this year, is something called ‘Two Words,’ which is a character curriculum that our athletic teams work on weekly, which teach things such as making good decisions,” Vickers said.
Throughout 2024, approximately 7.8% of high school students nationally reported current use of vapes. Long term effects of vapes can include addiction, respiratory issues, complications in the cardiovascular system, poor mental health, and dental health risks.
