NEW YORK (AP) - The latest government study on teen vaping suggests there's been little progress in keeping e-cigarettes out of the hands of kids.The data seems to show more high school students vaping, with 14% saying they had done so recently, according to survey results released Thursday.
In last year's survey, about 11% said they had vaped recently.But experts cautioned that a change in the survey makes it difficult to compare the two: This year, a much higher percentage of participants took the survey in schools, and vaping tends to be reported more in schools than in homes."It continues to be difficult to assess (vaping) trends since the pandemic," said Alyssa Harlow, a University of Southern California researcher who studies youth e-cigarette use.Despite its persistence, vaping appears to be less popular than it was: In 2019, 28% of high schoolers said they had recently vaped.Educators say vaping is still a big problem.Anecdotally, the 2021-22 school year was worse than it was before the pandemic, said Mike Rinaldi, principal of Westhill High School in Stamford, Connecticut.
That school year was the first when most kids returned from remote learning following COVID-19 lockdowns, noted Rinaldi, who speculated that many kids may have taken up vaping as they dealt with mental health issues or stress related to the pandemic.Kids vaping in school bathrooms and stairwells remains "a constant battle," said Matt Forker, principal of the nearby Stamford High School.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers authored the new study, which is based on a Jan.