“People need to get educated about vaping and stop trying to make it cool on social media.”
In an inspiring Los Angeles Time High School Insider opinion piece titled, "Social media vaping videos can influence teens," high school student Jacqueline Corrilo affirms what anti-tobacco advocates have long understood and what our own data consistently reveals: social media influences teens to try vaping, and peer pressure helps keep kids hooked on vape.
Corrilo writes that in a survey of her fellow students at Hilda Solis Learning Academy, 82% reported seeing vaping videos on social media platforms. This despite the fact that JUUL, the leading maker of vape products closed their social accounts in 2018 and vape promotions among influencers have been banned from platforms like Instagram and Facebook for years.
Citing Julia Vassey, a UC Berkeley researcher speaking to Inverse, Corrilo asserts “despite these measures to counter pro-vape posts, the content still dominates the conversation.” But how? The answer is: it's not paid influencers peddling the products, it's teens themselves. Friends. Classmates. Neighbors. The most powerful influencers of all. They're posting videos of themselves vaping, making it look fun and cool to their friends. And many of them are also profiting from the sales they generate by markting vape pens and accessories to their viewers.
To stop the persistent trend of teens glamorizing vape on social, one student interviewed by Corrilo urges parents to get more involved and to hold teens accountable for posting vaping videos: "Vaping is not healthy for anyone at all. There needs to be consequences for the children who vape and those who post about it on social media,”
Noting that "[p]eer pressure is a real thing" beckoning youth to try vaping, the teen author cites the equally "real consequences" vaping has "on brain development for younger people, not to mention lung disease" as reasons that teens and adults need to do better to stop the continuing spread of vaping via social. She urges people "to get educated about vaping and stop trying to make it cool on social media." We agree.
Looking for resources and tools to get educated about the realities and dangers of vaping? Here are a few great places to start:
Truth Initiative: Why vaping is an important issue →
E-Cigarette Resources for Parents →
Parents Against Vaping E-cigs (PAVe) →
