The day you became a parent probably changed your life forever. From the moment the stork dropped that little bundle of joy into your life, you became the legal guardian of another human being. The last thing you would ever want is for that child to start pouring chemicals down his throat, but here we are talking about vaping and parenting.
If you’re a parent and you suspect your child may be vaping behind your back, we understand your concerns.
We at E-Cig Brands.com care, and we want to reach out to help where we can.
That’s why today we’re going to talk about vaping trends among today’s youth, why you should pay attention, and what you should look for if you think your child might be hiding a vaporizer from you. If you do suspect your child is secretly vaping, don’t worry. There are ways to take control of the situation before it’s too late, but it’s up to take action as soon as possible.
Vaping and parenting are not usually two terms we like to combine, but teenagers are curious creatures, and they don’t always know what’s best for them. As caretakers, it’s our job to prevent them from making decisions they might later regret.
Youth Vaping Trends
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention publishes the National Youth and Tobacco Survey every year in the United States, and according to the results from the last few years, vaping is quickly becoming very popular among young adults. In 2013, only 1.1% of students had ever used an electronic cigarette (1.4% of boys and 0.9% of girls), but in 2014, that number jumped all the way to 11.9% of high school students including 15% of boys. The numbers just keep rising though. Only a year later, 19% of boys and 12.8% of girls reported having tried an e-cigarette in the month preceding the survey date.
However, smoking seems to be on the decline. In 2013, 12.7% of high school students reported having used a cigarette in the preceding few weeks while only 9.2% did the following year. Researchers can hope that more and more teenagers are abandoning their cigarettes for the electronic alternatives, but the numbers still don’t match up. Young people are taking up vaping in larger and larger numbers.
Thanks to anti-smoking publicity and early intervention programs, teenagers are well aware of the health risks associated with tobacco, and most of them are equipped with the skills they need to combat peer pressure.
Unfortunately, there’s not enough clear information for young people about electronic cigarettes brands. As parents, you have an interest in steering your children clear of what certainly are not cool toys or funky gadgets.
7 Warning Signs Your Child Might Be Vaping
Tobacco is fairly easy to spot simply because it’s difficult to hide. The smell of cigarettes lingers in the air long after you’re finished smoking. Plus, the ashes and the leftover cigarette butts have to go somewhere. However, electronic cigarettes have none of these issues. The vapor evaporates quickly barely leaving a trace, and because they’re battery-powered, there are few disposable parts.
Worse still, e-cigarette brands have created vape mods come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Though some of them resemble classic cigarettes, there are plenty of others that look like USB memory sticks or even regular pens. Unless you’re paying close attention, you might not notice the difference.
It can be extremely difficult to catch your children vaping if they’re fully intent on hiding their new hobby from you. Thankfully, there are still a few ways you can catch them if you keep your eyes peeled. As we all know, moms have eyes on the back of their head, and nothing can get past them if it concerns their children.
Mysterious Odors
You can’t miss a cigarette because of its unmistakable smell. There’s nothing else that smells exactly like burning tobacco. Electronic cigarettes don’t contain any actual tobacco though. Vape juice is made from propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, nicotine, and flavorings.
E-liquids come in all different kinds of flavors not excluding coffee, candy, pastries, chocolate, and ice cream. In fact, those who want to see government officials place stricter controls on e-cig brands claim that e-juice that tastes like fruity cereal or cherry candy might appeal to children.
If you happen to notice strange odors coming from your child’s room when you know for a fact they’re not cooking or eating in their room, you should consider the sign a red flag.
Strange Handheld Devices
The larger vaporizers, usually referred to as box mods, are bulky and obvious, but there are plenty of smaller devices that you could easily miss. Vaporizers come in all sorts of shapes and sizes today, but they’re most commonly found in the shape of a pen.
You’ll want to look for an opening on the top of the pen to identify it as a vape pen. The opening at the top is round and functions as a mouthpiece. You might also notice a button located on the side of the pen as opposed to the top where a pen button would normally be. This is the fire button and it powers the device. Lastly, you’ll need to check for a glass tank at the top of the pen where the e-liquid is held.
The latest vaporizers, sometimes referred to as vape pods for the pod-shaped disposable cartridges they use. Vape pods resemble USB sticks and are designed to be discreet. However, you can tell the difference from a distance if you’re paying attention. These vaporizers are far longer than your average memory stick, and they usually come with a black cap on the top.
Unexplained Thirst
You should always be concerned if your child is suddenly thirstier than normal. If your child constantly feels dehydrated, there may be a more serious issue at hand such as a urinary tract infection or even type 1 diabetes. However, if you have no reason to believe your teenager has such health issues, he may be vaping.
Electronic cigarette brands use three main ingredients to manufacture e-liquid: vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, and flavorings. Propylene glycol tends to draw water from its surroundings, and so new vapers commonly complain of a dry mouth.
Unfamiliar Batteries
Vaporizers, like smart phones, need to be charged regularly. While some of them come with internal batteries, many of them take what are called 18650 lithium-ion batteries. 18650’s are round, but they’re two or three times as large as your standard AA batteries and are usually wrapped in a green or yellow plastic coating.
If your child’s clever, he’ll probably be using a portable charging device. However, if you do happen to notice unfamiliar batteries charging on the counter overnight, they might belong to your child’s vaporizer.
Discarded supplies
Vaporizers are electronic devices, but they do have disposable parts that you might notice in the trash every 2-3 weeks. Here are some of the parts you might want to watch for:
- Cotton- Organic cotton is used as the wicking material. It’s packed inside the heating element and helps to draw the e-liquid from the tank into the atomizer. Though many atomizers are pre-loaded with cotton, other devices need to be wicked separately.
- Plastic Vials- You’ll want to look for either a small, plastic pod or a bottle with a pipette. The 2-3ml pods are pre-packaged cartridges designed to be used with electronic cigarettes. They contain e-liquid and a heating element. If you see bottles of 15-30ml, they probably held vape liquid.
- Metallic Coils- Metallic wires shaped into a coil should definitely raise a red flag. These coils are placed inside the atomizer and are used to vaporize e-juice.
- Atomizers- An atomizer is a small, cylindrical piece that houses a few metallic coils and some cotton wicking. They only last about two weeks before they need to be discarded.
The legal age for vaping is 18 except in select states where they’ve raised the age to 21. If your high school student is vaping, not only is he risking his health, but he’s also breaking the law. You should take action immediately if you have reason to believe your child is vaping clandestinely.
Whether that means approaching them about their behavior or confiscating e-cigarette brands equipment directly, you cannot afford to simply ignore what could become a very serious situation.
How to Minimize Risk if You’re Vaping and Parenting
Children learn a great deal from their parents, and they’re far more likely to pick up the habit if they know that mom or dad vapes. If you’re vaping and parenting at the same time, it’s up to you to make sure that your children don’t learn from your behavior.
Keep Your Vape Gear Out of Reach
Today, most e-cig equipment is child-proof, but you should still make sure to take extra precautions especially if you’re vaping while parenting young children. You should make sure to keep your vaporizers locked and out of sight whenever you’re not using them. Not only will it spark their curiosity, but it could be a very serious health hazard..
If children under the age of 6 or 7 ingest e-liquid, for example, they could die before you have a chance to get them to the emergency room. Nicotine is poisonous if ingested, and if your children know that your e-liquid smells like cotton candy, they won’t need much encouragement.
Deglamorize Vaping
Maybe glamorous isn’t necessarily the word you would use to describe vaping, but it’s probably not too far off. The vaping industry is an industry like any other, and electronic cigarette brands know that it’s in their best interest to make vaporizers look appealing. Otherwise they wouldn’t sell.
You don’t have to go out of your way to find the ugliest device on the market, but if you want to dissuade your children from taking after you, you might want to skip on the rainbow LED light display. You’ll probably want to avoid vape tricks and O-rings when you’re in front of your children as well.
Be The Example
Frankly, you really shouldn’t be vaping and parenting at all if you feel hypocritical. If you really don’t want your children to vape, than you should take the initiative and ditch the habit yourself. Your actions will speak for themselves and give more weight to your argument than words ever could.
Final Words on Vaping and Parenting
Parenting is certainly not straightforward, and vaping and parenting is even more difficult. The bottom line is, if you don’t believe your kids should vape, then you probably shouldn’t be vaping yourself.
Nonetheless, kids, unlike e-cigarettes, don’t come with removable batteries, and they certainly don’t come with a manual. Though you can do your best, there’s never any guarantee that your children will heed your warnings. After all, they have their own brains, and they have the right to their own opinions whether you agree with them or not.
That all being said, minors do not always make the best judgement calls, and they certainly don’t always take accountability for their actions or even think before acting for that matter. If you think your child might have access to an e-cigarette, it’s in his best interest that you take action. We don’t yet know all of the long-term effects of vaping, but you wouldn’t want to find out a few years too late that they’re not good ones.