An ongoing issue in Cypress High school, the consequence of vape and drug use among students continues to affect our entire safety, privileges and rights. While a single mist released to sip out of a JUUL pod seems to disintegrate into thin air, the traces it leaves behind leaves a long impact in our communities.
One of the greatest issues on campus, substance abuse is prevalent in the student body through various forms. From marijuana, alcohol, vape juice, tobacco, and other various nicotine products, many uncertified substances are going into students’ that are altering the students physical and mental chemistry. Becoming a form of an inescapable addiction, students rely on drugs and vapes on a regular basis, needing to bring them into our campus. Exchanging drugs in restrooms, lockers, and lunch deliveries, These actions not only harm individual users but also disrupt the school environment and drain resources meant to benefit all students.
From the restroom policies, security walkthroughs, school locks, strict lunch delivery requirements, and ID verification for attendance, every rule affecting the campus has been created in order to fight off the drug use on campus. Going beyond rules students need to follow, even restrooms are being shut down because vape sticks are being flushed down the toilet, clogging the pipes.
Principal Jennifer Brown adds on this issue saying, “We have to shut down a bathroom and it’s costing us thousands and thousands of dollars out of our school budget to have to pay for the plumbers to come, which could be used for things for students instead. So it affects everyone on campus when kids make these choices.”
In order to fix the ongoing problem, vape detectors along with the security measures are planned to be installed on school campuses to make a smoke-free environment if the district proceeds to approve the request. A chemical detector named HALO, any kind of harmful chemicals in the environment can be detected through the air, setting off automatic notifications to the campus safety, administration counselors of the location, as well as the camera system. Also detecting loud voices, gunshots and charging languages can be detected.
Security measures are being strengthened as it is harder to identify who are being abused by drug usage. While it was easier to recognize who used drugs back in the day by the way someone dresses or behaves, now we confront a society where even straight As honor students are involved in substance abuse, stuggling to seek help to deal with academic stress. Providing opportunities for students to learn and heal from drug and vape use, various events are being held from Tobacco Use Prevention Education (TUPE) and Friday Night Live (FNL) Club to spread awareness of the dangers of drinking and smoking through programs such as Red Ribbon Week, Great American Smoke-Out, and weekly Friday meetings.
Meeting various students who are struggling, Ms. Shelley Hawkins, health teacher and advisor for these events, explains that the main issues stem from exposure and exclusion: “Having drugs and alcohol accessible through family members or being disconnected from school has been the biggest ways students turn their eyes to drugs. I know some schools are different, being more focused on the education part of it, but smoking’s not new. Drinking’s not new. Those things have been around since the dawn of time, but it’s how we get kids to focus on other things that are good in their life.”
Combating drug use requires a collective effort. By creating a shared commitment to safety and wellness, the student body can add support to making a substance-free campus. As Principal Brown says, “Consequences don’t go away. We always have consequences for our actions, whether good or bad, but it’s not about the punishment, it’s about helping them change their behavior so that way it doesn’t continue to put them in an unhealthy, unsafe situation.” Together Cypress High can become a place where everyone can focus on growth and success, free from the shadows of vapes and drugs.
