Coverage of the growing problem of teenage vaping has, for the most part, been focused on high school students. But according to the American Journal of Public Health, 29% of lifetime smokers are first introduced to nicotine products between age 12 and 14.
Sargeant Trusdell is the principal of Skyview Middle School in Soldotna and a lifelong educator, having spent 22 years working in middle schools. He says that vaping first became a problem about eight years ago, and has worsened in the last six.
Trusdell discussed the sudden arrival of vapes in middle school, and how the quickly evolving technology has tested school officials with Alaska Public Media’s Zakiya McCummings.
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Related: To combat teen vaping in Alaska schools, educators and state officials work together
