In March 2020, ASH-Youth survey data found that around 5% of 11 to 18 year olds in the UK vaped at least once per month. In September 2019, ITC Youth survey data observed that 7.7% of 16 to 19 year olds had vaped on more than 10 days in their lifetime and vaped within the past month. Both of these figures were collected before the height of the current COVID-19 pandemic so they don’t play into the impacts of the multiple lockdowns on young people – you can imagine these figures have probably increased with young people being stuck at home with nothing to do.

With this growing trend, it is important for schools to install vape detectors, which are a recent innovation that is being implemented to help curb the use of e-cigarettes and vaping devices in schools. They can be installed in areas where students are most likely to vape, such as bathrooms and changing rooms.

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Are Vape Detectors Necessary in Schools and What are the Benefits?

Vaping has become a major concern for schools in recent years. Not only is it dangerous to smoke, but it can also be difficult to detect. That’s why vape detectors are becoming such an important tool in preventing and detecting vaping.

There are several benefits to using vape detectors in schools:

  • They can help deter kids from vaping in the first place. Vape detectors can create a sense of insecurity for kids, making them less likely to vape in school.
  • They can help catch kids who are vaping in the act. This can help educators address the issue and get kids the help they need.
  • Vape detectors can help protect kids from the dangers of nicotine addiction and lung problems. The installation of these detectors highlights vaping as a serious and harmful issue, which could help kids look at the consequences of vaping more thoroughly if the school has a strict stance on it. Nicotine is extremely addictive and can harm adolescent brain development and the toxins from vapes can cause irreversible lung damage.
  • They can help deter kids from turning to cigarettes – young people who vape are much more likely to become smokers in the future compared to young people who don’t vape due to the nicotine addiction they could potentially develop.
  • Vaping is hard to detect without special detectors – if you want to prevent vaping in schools without using any devices, you’re going to have a hard time. This is because unlike cigarettes and marijuana, which have distinct smells, vaping is very difficult to smell, especially with the thousands of flavours available, the smell isn’t identifiable. The smell of vape smoke doesn’t cling to students’ clothes like cigarette smoke does. Vapes are also a lot easier to hide and smoke on school grounds – cigarettes are not as subtle as they require a lighter which makes an recognizable clicking sound. Students can quickly take their vape from their pocket and take a few puffs without the need of lighting it. Cigarettes also usually have to be finished before being put out – vapes can just be smoked at any time.
  • Discover vaping and smoking ‘hotspots’ – with vaping detectors, you can learn more about your school such as the top spots people go to vape and try and minimise the use of these ‘hotspots’
  • Parents will see that you’re making an effort to tackle vaping prevention.
  • Relying on students to detect vaping in bathrooms and other private spaces won’t work – students will be worried they might be looked down upon by their fellow students if they are seen ‘snitching’
  • Create a healthy environment for all – vaping emits second-hand smoke which may discourage students who don’t vape from using the bathroom as they don’t want to breathe this smoke in. Make sure your school bathrooms are a safe and vape-free place.

Where to Buy Vape Smoke Detectors for Schools

Here at The Safety Centre, we are a supplier of safety products from all the top manufacturers and brands. Within our massive portfolio, we can supply you with Verkada’s SV11 all-in-one sensor. The SV11 measures air quality, temperature, humidity and noise – users can manage which data they want to monitor from a web command platform and set custom alerts for when something is detected. When an alert is triggered, it can then notify certain users such as school administrators who can investigate the trigger.

The SV11 is extremely accurate and provides a vape index on a scale of 1-100 indicating the likelihood of vape or smoke activity. The Vape Index is designed to ignore cleaning products and aerosols but some fine particles may trigger false positives, which is why these detectors are commonly installed in bathrooms, hallways and classrooms rather than in places like kitchens.

Users can also link a camera with each sensor so they have visual evidence into what triggered the detectors and even manage the alert settings so that alerts go off for each user within a different timeframe – this is perfect for school staff who work different shifts.

Including an easy setup and ideal detection features, the SV11 could be perfect for you.

Have any questions or want to order? Contact the team at The Safety Centre today.