Noor Faris

April 4, 2019
Teens Against JUULing
This report focuses on the rising popularity of vaping among high schools and proposes
a solution to educate the students in the Dallas Independent School District (DISD).

Vaping is a Problem
E-cigarettes, devices created to aid smokers in quitting, have recently spread to minors
across high schools in America, including Dallas. This past year alone, there has been a
38% increase in vapors in high schools due to the creation of the JUUL (Cullen, 2018).
This vaping device is small and comes in many flavored pods making it fun and easy to
hide at schools. This popularity is a problem because JUULs were created to help
smokers quit their addictions but are now being used for fun. Vaping has serious short
and long-term health and academic consequences. E-cigarettes contain nicotine, a
highly addictive substance. Once a person creates a tolerance, their craving for nicotine
only gets higher, meaning that e-cigarettes can become a bad habit fast. People who
vape are also more likely to smoke in the future. Vapers and smokers are susceptible to
long-term respiratory and cardiovascular problems, as well as damage to the
developing brain. Along with these health risks, these teenagers can face academic
risks like lower grades, higher absence and dropout rates.

Awareness Program
We plan to create a Teens Against JUULing program that raises awareness on the
intended purpose and the negative effects of misusing e-cigarettes. We want to visit
every high school in the DISD and have face to face interactions with the students.
There will be many events planned for these visits:

 Presentations given and tailored to each grade alone

 Guest speakers including doctors, counselors, social workers, and users/victims
of vaping
 Interactive activities amongst the students
 Pep rallies with the entire school

These events will not only be engaging for the students but will also be filled with many
information. Any relevant facts, statistics, and videos will be included in the events in
order to help the students to understand the severity of this problem.

Why an Educational Program?

The reason this method will work is due to the fact that teenagers picked up the vaping
habit because of its recent trend. JUULs became popular without people being
knowledgeable on the risks and students only vape because it’s the ‘new cool thing’ to
do. Once they become informed on the risks of vaping, we believe that students will no
longer be interested in doing so. The e-cigarette rates will drop which will generate a
healthier generation.

Cullen, K. A. (2018, November 15). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6745a5.htm?s_cid=mm6745a5_w