Among the pupils who indicated they vaped, 38% vaped daily, and more than half of the pupils in our sample reported they vaped four or more days per week.
About 88% of pupils reported using vapes that contained nicotine. About 47% reported they vaped within the first hour of waking up — this is highly suggestive of nicotine addiction. We estimate that up to 61% of high school pupils who vape could be seriously addicted to nicotine.
**Why adolescents start and continue vaping**
We found the primary reasons for starting vaping differed from the main reasons for continuing to vape.
Just over half (50.6%) of the students who vaped cited social influences (family, friends, peer pressure, the need to fit in) as reasons for starting. About 20% of pupils indicated they had started vaping to cope with stress and anxiety, while 16.2% said they had started out of general curiosity.
Common reasons cited for continuing their vape use were to cope with anxiety, depression or stress (28.4%), or because they were addicted (14.9%).
Some pupils explicitly stated addiction in their reasoning:
_It’s an addiction, no matter what I try I can’t stop._ (female, 17)
Others described it more as a habit:
_It has become a habit. I have to consume something constantly._ (female, 18)
Less than 10% of students identified social influences as the reason they continued to vape.
About 46% of students did not list addiction as a reason for continuing to vape, though their reported vaping habits aligned with patterns typically seen in individuals who are highly addicted. This suggests that many pupils in our sample may lack awareness of what constitutes addiction.
**What needs to be done**
Our research underscores the urgent need for a co-ordinated public health response to address the vaping crisis among high school pupils.
The government must pass the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill. This legislation will ensure vapes cannot be sold near schools or online.
The restrictions on the advertising of vaping products provided for in the bill may aid with this as well as the deglamorisation of vaping among young people — reducing the general curiosity that leads many young people to begin in the first place.
The dangerous myth that “vaping is safe” also needs to be debunked.
We need to help addicted teenagers to stop vaping. However, punishing students for vaping is unlikely to be an effective strategy.
Parents must be more aware of the signs of vaping and the underlying issues driving it. Healthcare professionals should ask young people about their vape use during routine check-ups and school counsellors should teach coping strategies to help teens navigate life’s challenges.
_— Sam Filby is a research officer at the Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products, University of Cape Town; Richard van Zyl Smit is an associate professor and consultant pulmonologist at the University of Cape Town._
This article was first published in [The Conversation](https://theconversation.com/vaping-hits-alarming-levels-among-south-african-teens-new-study-of-fee-paying-schools-244843)