Heading into the year prepared
By Daniel Arens
All too soon, school has started again. And it brings the potential for bigger problems facing teachers than simple complaints over the difficulty of a test or the abundance of homework.
On Tuesday, the day before classes resumed, Mary Hillerud gave a presentation to teachers on how to recognize and respond to vaping and electronic cigarette use in the classroom. The discussion piggybacked on another presentation Monday evening to parents and students attending the 6th and 9th grade orientation event.
Hillerud is the Custer Health tobacco outreach coordinator for the area. She brought with examples of many kinds of e-cigarette and “JUUL” products to educate teachers on what they look like and how they can be disguised.
Among the biggest new concerns facing Hillerud in addressing this issue are new products designed to hide more easily. Slipping into narrow zipper slots on backpacks, hiding around the drawstrings of a sweatshirt, even the possibility of new products disguised as lipstick: these are some of the ways she said the industry is enabling people, including kids, to use the product while leaving others none-the-wiser.
