School removes bathroom stall doors to crack down on student vaping

An Alabama high school has removed bathroom stall doors as a brand-new approach to crack down on teens vaping in bathrooms.

What are the details?

According to WAFF-TV, administrators at Wilson High School in Florence, Alabama, removed some of the bathroom stall doors in the men's restrooms.

Principal Gary Horton said one student passed out in a stall last week after vaping, adding that the vaping epidemic in the school has gotten out of control.

WAVY-TV reported that the solution, according to the principal, may be temporary until administrators can figure out a more permanent way to combat vaping.

Some parents aren't on board with the decision.

Parent Rachel Munsey told WAFF, "I don't like it. They take their only private place in the school that they can do their business."

Brian Campbell, another parent, said that other measures could be taken to stop kids from vaping in school bathrooms.

"Maybe they need to put a monitor in the hall," he suggested. "Usually they have a truancy officer or a police officer at the school. Have them monitor the hallway because a bathroom is for each individual person's privacy."

What else?

The school's decision comes on the heels of the Centers for Disease Control announcing that people should stop using e-cigarette products immediately.

At least three people have died in recent weeks after reportedly contracting illnesses said to have been prompted by e-cigarette use. Health officials also reported that more than 450 people have contracted vaping-related illnesses.

A statement from the CDC about the use of e-cigarette products says:

CDC, states, and other partners are actively investigating, but so far, no definitive cause has been established. No specific e-cigarette device or substance has been linked to all cases, and e-cigarette include a variety of chemical and additives; consumers may not know what these products contain.

Based on the clinical and laboratory evidence to date, we believe that a chemical exposure is likely associated with these illnesses. However, and I really want to stress this, more information is needed to determine which specific products or substances are involved.

In 2018, a study from the National Institutes of Health reported that 37.3 percent of high school seniors self-reported to have used e-cigarette products throughout the year — an increase of nearly 10 percent from 2017.