SPEAKING OF EDUCATION BY KURT LINDAU
Our teenagers need us. They all need stable caring adults in their lives. Even when we think as parents that we are doing everything right to guide and protect them, they still make mistakes. Teenagers today are faced with many challenges and choices. They face so many pressures. Drugs, alcohol, tobacco, vape pens….they are under a great deal of peer pressure. Later this month, a report from Sawyer County Public Health will reveal exactly what some of those pressures are for students in Sawyer County. When they make mistakes we must remember to love them and support them.
The Juul device seems to be the latest trend in tobacco use for teenagers. Schools in our region have been dealing with the insurgence of teenage Juuling. It is a tobacco product. It is illegal for anyone under the age of 18. Juuling on school grounds is a violation of school rules and/or the Athletic code. Similar to a vaping device the Juul is not a safe alternative to smoking.
The Following is an Excerpt from Time Magazine….
The most popular product in the booming e-cigarette market doesn’t look like a cigarette at all.
The Juul, a trendy vape that resembles a flash drive and can be charged in a laptop’s USB port, accounted for 33% of the e-cigarette market as of late 2017, according to Wells Fargo data. The product is made for and legally available only to adults 18 and older, and its “growth appears to be due to growth with the 18 to 24 year old age group,” according to a Wells Fargo report.
But in many cases, media reports suggest, these devices are being used by kids and teenagers even younger than that — which has some parents, educators and medical professionals concerned. Each Juul cartridge—which lasts about 200 puffs—has as much nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes.
Although Juul products, like most e-cigarettes, are made and marketed as smoking alternatives, the device is increasingly popping up on high school and college campuses. The term “Juuling” usually refers to this recreational use.
Please take a teenager under your wing. Talk to them, support them, and mentor them. They need all of us.
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