Fifteen students at LaVernia High School, including football players, cheerleaders, and members of the band and flag teams, are being 'disciplined' after they admitted to 'vaping' on a school bus on the way to a football game in Rockport, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
In a memo to parents, Superintendent Trent Lovette says he is 'disappointed in the choices of these students.
"Sometimes our great students make poor choices, and these students understand they will be held accountable for their actions. However, I also want to convey that the poor decisions of these students in this situation should not and will not define them, nor will we let this situation define LVISD," he said in the memo
.Abigail Moore with the Council on Drug and Alcohol Awareness, says an increase in 'vaping,' also known as 'juuling,' has been seen among teenagers.
"The younger they are when they begin experimenting with any drug, their break begins to change its synapses that leads to addiction," she said.
Numerous studies have indicated that far from being a 'safe' form of smoking, vaping is every bit as addictive as tobacco use.
"Unfortunately we are seeing an increase in use among adolescents," Moore said. "For example, kids are at the bus stop, and they are vaping there."
Many teens say, because vaping is not specifically prohibited in many places, as is tobacco use, they don't believe it is dangerous.
Lovette says a report by a local TV station that 'hundreds' of LaVernia kids were vaping on the bus turned out to be 'unfounded.' The TV station was apparently hoaxed by a bogus phone call that turned out to originate at a Las Vegas casino.