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School finds new solutions for the JUUL issue School finds new solutions for the JUUL problem

By Josh Liepper

Students sit in the cafeteria
© 2018 Josh Liepper

By Josh Liepper SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)- Students raise their hand, anxiously waiting to go to the bathroom. Little did teachers know, they went to use the e-cigarette, JUUL, while class is going on.

Last year, Roslyn High School suspended 16 students for using the JUUL in bathrooms and hallways. That number is now down to two this year after the school implemented new ways to prevent students from using the device in school.

Principal Scott Andrews added swipe card access to the bathrooms this year. It was mainly for security but Andrews realized they can use it as a secondary tool to catch kids using JUULs in the bathrooms.

“Now we can track back and we can see who actually swiped in at the exact time,” Andrews said.

JUUL is becoming more relevant around high schools over the past couple of years. The company has been criticized for marketing to teenagers. Alejandro Elena, a teacher at the school, says he hears something everyday about the device.

“I feel like I hear more about it now. I hear it from my students,” Elena says.

Elena feels that the company is doing a lot of harm to students and is unhappy with how the issue has been handled.

“They know what they’re doing (manufacturers), and I think that’s very deplorable,” Elena enforced.

Roslyn High School has laid down new punishments for students caught using the device in school. The consequences include a three-day suspension if you have the device in your personal belongings and a five-day suspension if a student is caught using it.

Dean of Students, Christopher Roth, has made it clear that using the device in school is not tolerated.

“A lot of students don’t like it. A lot of people don’t want to walk into a bathroom and see a cloud of smoke. Kids don’t want to walk into that.”

Some believe the school is being too harsh with their punishments. Hillary Tenner thinks it is a little severe.

“The school says they’re cracking down, but I think there are much more things to crack down on,” Tenner said.

The FDA and public health officials have sought out ways to prevent underage adults from buying JUULs. JUUL Labs suspended the sales of most of the company’s flavored pods. The FDA plans to be more strict with age-verification for online sales.

(ANC) (Cortese)
One high school in Long Island has suspended two students this year for smoking the e-cigarette, JUUL, during school hours. A decrease from last year’s results. NCC News reporter Josh Liepper explains what that school is doing to ban e-cigarettes.

(Liepper)
Two students have been suspended from Roslyn High school this year for using JUUL’s in the school’s bathrooms. Principal Scott Andrews says they were suspended after administrators set up new ways to catch students using JUULs in bathrooms and hallways.

(Andrews)
“We added swipe cards to the bathroom this year. It was mainly for security, but if someone’s juuling in the bathroom now and we have the approximate time; we can actually see who swiped in at the exact time.”

(Liepper)
Last year, the school caught 16 students using JUULs in bathrooms. Andrews says he’s reached out to students and parents through weekly emails to spread awareness on the harm the product causes, including addiction and a risk of becoming a regular cigarette smoker.

(Andrews)
“I just keep sending stuff to the kids, like emails about how bad it is. It’s so new that nobody knows what the physical effects are going to be, but I can argue they’re not going to be good.”

(Liepper)
Dean of Students, Christopher Roth also established new consequences for students who are using the JUUL during school hours. He’s also handing out punishments even if you just have the device in your personal belongings.

(Roth)
“If you have a JUUL on you, a device on your person, three-day suspension. If you’re caught doing it, you’re at five days. That put a big stop in what happened during school.”

(Liepper)
Roslyn High School brought in experts to speak to administrators and teachers about JUUL’s harm to students and how to identify the device if something is suspicious. Alejandro Elena, a Spanish teacher, says the conference was very informative.

(Elena)
“It could look like a flash drive, it could look like a pen or whatever; things before that a teacher wouldn’t have realized. That can be used for juuling. So that was an eye-opener.

(Liepper)
Robert Gerula is a physical education teacher at the school. He’s caught students using JUULs during teachers’ required locker room checks during school multiple times.

(Gerula)
“I did see two kids exchanging something underneath the divider of a toilet stall and when they came out we questioned them (him and the athletic director) and it turned out that it was indeed a JUUL that they were exchanging.”

(Liepper)
Hillary Tenner is a parent of four children including twins who are juniors at Roslyn high. She also has two kids who graduated from the school. She believes the punishment is harsh.

(Tenner)
“The kids aren’t harming anybody, they shouldn’t have it, but the punishment is a little severe. They’re not hurting anybody, they’re only hurting themselves.”

(Liepper)
Tenner also believes that parents need to step in.

(Tenner)
“The parents are the ones who should take it away and get rid of it.”

(Liepper)
Tenner didn’t even have to bring up the issue with her two daughters. They know from seeing some of their friends that the device isn’t worth having.

(Tenner)
“I don’t have to bring it up. They know. They just know. They know how bad it is from social media. They know it’s stupid.”

(Liepper)
The FDA shows a 75-percent increase in the use of e-cigarettes by high-school students this year. To try preventing minors from getting e-cigarettes, JUUL Labs suspended all flavored pods besides mint, menthol and tobacco pods in convenience stores and gas stations. The FDA is also requiring age-verification measures with regards to online sales. Andrews hopes all of this will work.

(Andrews)
“I’m hoping it sends a little message to the kids because it’s tough for kids to realize how bad this stuff is.”

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