Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:07] You know, we can change the story on youth vaping.
[00:00:12] Welcome back to Just say Something podcast. I'm Philip Clark, CEO of Just say Something.
[00:00:20] And so it's that time of year again. Students across South Carolina head back to school.
[00:00:26] There are a lot of conversations happening in families right now.
[00:00:31] What classes are you taking? Who's your teacher?
[00:00:35] How much homework do you have?
[00:00:37] Are you trying out for a team?
[00:00:40] Who are you sitting with at lunch?
[00:00:43] But there's another conversation I want to encourage parents and other adults to have this school year, and that's a conversation about vaping.
[00:00:53] Because despite all the progress we've made over the years in reducing cigarette smoking among young people, nicotine hasn't gone away.
[00:01:03] It simply changed. And today, vaping is one of the biggest substance use challenges facing our young people.
[00:01:13] According to the CDC, about 1.63 million middle and high school students reported using e cigarettes in 2024.
[00:01:24] Nearly 88% of young people who vape reported using flavored products.
[00:01:30] And more than one in four reported vaping every day.
[00:01:35] Think about that for a minute.
[00:01:39] Those aren't just numbers in a report.
[00:01:42] These are middle and high school school students.
[00:01:47] They're sitting in classrooms, they're playing sports, they're going to band practice. They're riding the bus home.
[00:01:54] They're our children, our grandchildren, neighbors, and friends.
[00:02:01] And many of them don't necessarily see vaping as dangerous.
[00:02:08] That's something we hear when we're working with young people through Just say something.
[00:02:13] Because vaping doesn't look or smell like traditional cigarettes, there's often a perception that it isn't really that harmful.
[00:02:23] But nicotine is highly addictive, and the adolescent brain is still developing.
[00:02:30] The CDC tells us that nicotine can affect brain development until about age 25, including areas involved in learning, attention, memory, mood, and impulse control.
[00:02:47] E cigarette aerosol can also contain harmful chemicals, heavy metals, and ultra fine particles that can travel deep into the lungs.
[00:02:58] So this isn't something we should simply shrug off as well. Teenagers are going to experiment, and that's really what I want to talk about today.
[00:03:12] I worry that vaping has become so common that we started treating it as inevitable.
[00:03:19] Schools are dealing with students vaping in bathrooms. Parents hear about it from their kids. Young people tell us everybody does it, but everybody doesn't do it. And even more importantly, we shouldn't accept nicotine addiction as a normal part of growing up.
[00:03:40] We've been here before. There was time when cigarette smoking was incredibly common. But parents, schools, healthcare providers, policymakers, nonprofits, and communities worked Together to change that.
[00:03:55] We educated people, we changed attitudes, we invested in prevention and young and youth cigarette smoking dropped dramatically.
[00:04:06] That tells us or tells me something important.
[00:04:10] We can change behavior when we're willing to change the environment around it.
[00:04:16] But we're not going to solve vaping, youth vaping simply by telling kids, don't vape.
[00:04:23] And we're certainly not going to solve it by scaring them.
[00:04:27] Young people are smart.
[00:04:29] They know when they're being lectured.
[00:04:32] What makes a difference is connection.
[00:04:36] It's having adults in their lives who are willing to listen, ask questions and talk honestly about what they're seeing and experiencing.
[00:04:47] And adults. This is especially important as the school year begins.
[00:04:53] You don't have to sit your child down and annoy and announce, we're going to have a serious conversation about vaping.
[00:05:02] In fact, sometimes the best conversations happen when they don't feel like a formal conversation at all.
[00:05:09] Maybe you're driving home from school and you asked, do kids at your school vape?
[00:05:19] Then listen.
[00:05:21] You might ask, why do the kids. Why do you think kids start?
[00:05:26] Or do people you your age, I need to start over.
[00:05:34] I'll start from.
[00:05:44] Young people are smart. They know when they're being lectured. What makes a difference is connection.
[00:05:51] It's having parents in their lives who are willing to listen, ask questions and talk honestly about what they're seeing and experiencing.
[00:06:01] And parents. This is especially important as the school year begins.
[00:06:07] You don't have to sit your child down and announce, we're going to have a serious conversation about vaping.
[00:06:14] In fact, sometimes the best conversations happen when they don't feel like a formal conversation at all.
[00:06:22] Maybe you're driving home from school or you ask, do kids at your school vape?
[00:06:28] Then listen.
[00:06:30] You might ask, why do you think kids start?
[00:06:35] Or do people your age think vaping is dangerous?
[00:06:40] Or even what would you do if someone offered you one?
[00:06:46] You don't have to know every statistic.
[00:06:49] You don't have to be an expert on vaping devices or every product that's out there.
[00:06:55] You just have to be willing to start the conversation.
[00:06:58] And maybe your child rolls their eyes.
[00:07:02] Maybe you get a one word answer. But that's okay.
[00:07:07] Because prevention isn't one big perfect conversation.
[00:07:13] It's a lot of little conversations over time.
[00:07:16] It's five minutes in the car. It's something you talk about after seeing a video online.
[00:07:23] It's a conversation at the dinner table.
[00:07:26] It's a coach talking with the team.
[00:07:30] It's a teacher checking in with the student.
[00:07:33] It's a grandparent asking a question.
[00:07:37] Those moments build trust.
[00:07:40] And when young people know there are adults they can talk to without immediately being judged or shut down, they're much more likely to come to us when the decisions get harder.
[00:07:55] This isn't only a parenting issue, either.
[00:08:00] Schools can't solve youth vaping alone, parents can't solve it alone, and organizations like Just say Something can't solve it alone.
[00:08:11] We need health care providers, coaches, businesses, faith communities, youth organizations, civic leaders, teachers, parents, and other trusted adults involved.
[00:08:25] That's why we created Preserve your Air.
[00:08:31] It's a resource for parents, educators, students, and community members who want reliable information about vaping, nicotine and prevention.
[00:08:43] And if you're a parent thinking I don't even know where to begin, start there.
[00:08:50] Learn a little, then ask your child a question.
[00:08:54] You don't need a speech.
[00:08:56] You need a conversation.
[00:08:59] As we begin another school year, that's the challenge I want to leave with all of us.
[00:09:05] Let's stop treating youth vaping as something we simply have to accept.
[00:09:11] Let's stop believing that because it's common, it's inevitable.
[00:09:16] We changed the story around cigarette smoking. We can change this story, too.
[00:09:22] But it's going to take all of us at Just say something. Our mission has always been bigger than telling young people what not to do.
[00:09:32] It's about giving young people and families the relationships, resources, opportunities and support they need to make healthy choices.
[00:09:42] And sometimes that starts with something incredibly simple.
[00:09:48] A parent asking a question, a coach noticing something.
[00:09:54] A teacher listening.
[00:09:56] A community deciding that the health of its young people is worth fighting for.
[00:10:02] So this week, as backpacks are packed, schedules get busy, practices begin, and everyone settles into a new routine.
[00:10:13] Find one opportunity to start a conversation with a young person in your life.
[00:10:19] It doesn't have to be perfect.
[00:10:22] You just have to say something.
[00:10:25] To learn more about youth vaping and find resources to help you start those conversations voice, visit preserv.com and to learn more about the work we're doing with young people and families across South Carolina, visit just say something sc.org thanks again for listening and I'll talk to you next time.
