Clicking through the monotonous posts on Snapchat, a friend request appears in the top right corner of your screen. Noticing the request is from a boy you go to school with, you accept. You tap on the circle to see what he’s posted, and are met with an assault of brightly colored vapes, with text reading, “Best in town, 18 dollars cash, Noblesville and Westfield only.”
Posts and behaviors like this aren’t new. For more than ten years, vaping culture has reached new levels, with adolescents being the biggest fly caught in the traps of vaping companies. D.A.R.E. warned us that peer pressure would be our largest hurdle in growing up, but the reality of our teenage years has instead been spent dodging vape companies’ targeted marketing. These companies are profiting off of teen’s naivety. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 2.5 million teenagers reported in 2022 that they use e-cigarettes.
With a toy-like appearance, these vices are obviously appealing to children. The gadgets and novelty cartoon-character vapes available for purchase only confirm the ugly truth — we are under attack. The lack of awareness from parents only makes this truth more damaging: nicotine substances are more accessible, and we are the ones who fall addicted.
Adults dance around the uncomfortable subject, believing that “my kid would never.” Unfortunately, no child is exempt from vape culture and its impacts, even if a student doesn’t partake in the activity themselves. Parents need to be educated. They need to take the vaping epidemic seriously.
We have been targeted and taken advantage of, and it is time that we stand up for ourselves. Stop normalizing the use of vapes. Don’t listen to people who claim they “can quit whenever.” Those people have become just another fly stuck in the trap – it is your responsibility to be an advocate for yourself. Observe vaping companies’ tactics, acknowledge their manipulation skills, and actively choose to do the right thing for yourself.
