Mishawaka High School hosts anti-vaping seminar

MISHAWAKA, Ind. – Local groups helped organize an anti-vaping seminar held at Mishawaka High School on Tuesday as part of a school assembly tour called “Sweet Deceptions."

Hundreds of Mishawaka students attended what was the first of three weeks of seminars addressing the problem of teen vaping.

“It’s a bad problem,” Wayne Barker said, Superintendent of Schools for City of Mishawaka. “I think kids can do it, they can be very discreet in how they do it. I use the word epidemic and I mean that. I think many, many children are being impacted by vaping.”

The speaker at the seminar spoke to students about several debunked ideas about vaping: that it is nicotine free, that it is not geared towards young people, and that it is safe to use.

Funny and shocking videos were also shown to students, and the speaker also referenced statistics that illustrate the impact that vaping has on young people.

Superintendent Barker said that a discussion about vaping was needed.

“We were challenged everyday dealing with students and vaping and it’s not any different here,” Barker said. “It’s not any different if you go down the road to another high school. Students are vaping, they are targeted and we need to make sure we are sending a message to them that it isn’t safe so they understand the consequences for what they are doing.”

Barker hopes that the seminar will resonate with students. He also wants parents to step in and do what they can to limit vaping and keep it off school grounds.