Who in your system first notices a sixth grader slipping out of class every hour? Usually it is a teacher, an administrator, or a nurse. By the time the case reaches the office, the habit is often weeks old. The question I hear most is direct: how do we get ahead of vaping, THC, and nicotine before they settle into younger grades?
The national picture is mixed, and that matters for planning. In 2024, 5.9% of middle and high school students said they were currently using e-cigarettes (Jamal et al., 2024). Middle school rates, however, showed no significant change that year. Reported edible cannabis exposures among children under six also rose from 207 in 2017 to 3,054 in 2021 (Tweet et al., 2023). THC is reaching homes earlier, and our youngest students live in those homes.
Where Good Intentions Sometimes Go Wrong
Many systems answer the first vape with a suspension and a letter home. It feels decisive, and it reassures worried adults. Yet the student comes back with the same craving, the same stress, and fewer days of instruction. Truth Initiative (n.d.) states plainly that punitive measures will not help students quit. Removing a child from school also removes them from the adults most likely to notice the next warning sign.
A second trap is believing sensors and bathroom checks can solve the problem on their own. Detection tells us where use happens, but not why a twelve-year-old started. Stanford researcher Bonnie Halpern-Felsher says many young people use nicotine to cope with stress (Tompa, 2025). When we treat a coping behavior only as defiance, we miss the student underneath it.
The Better Answer Starts on a Porch
When I was a little girl, summer meant making peach ice cream at my great-grandparents’ house. We took turns watching the churn while the adults talked on the porch. My great-grandparents asked probing questions and then listened with full attention. My great-grandmother treated everyone as if they were the most important person in the world.
Nobody on that porch lectured me about choices. Still, I knew I was seen, and that shaped what I was willing to risk. Students carry that same awareness into our hallways every day. Steiner et al. (2019) linked strong school and family connectedness to 48% to 66% lower odds of adult health risks, including drug use.
Halpern-Felsher makes the point with urgency. “The mental health crisis is real, even more reason why we shouldn’t just bust them if they tell us they’re using,” she said (Tompa, 2025). “We have to hear and see them, rather than shut them down.” That is the porch lesson, applied to public health.
Four Moves for System Leaders
Prevention and response belong in the same plan. Here is where I would begin with any leadership team I coach. Each move builds on people you already employ.
- Start prevention in fourth and fifth grade. If you wait until middle school, many students will already have seen devices at home or online. Use free, research-based lessons such as Stanford’s Tobacco Prevention Toolkit. Teach students how marketing targets them, because young people resent being manipulated. Another strong program is D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), which is a school-based prevention program that begins in elementary schools.
- Rewrite the first-offense response. Replace automatic suspension with a supportive program like Healthy Futures, which researchers built as an alternative to suspension (Tompa, 2025). Pair it with a counselor check-in within 48 hours and additional support for the student and family. Keep consequences for repeat offenses or distribution, but make help the first door.
- Treat THC as a health event first. Train nurses and front-office staff to spot signs of edible exposure and call for medical help quickly. Tweet et al. (2023) reported that 22.7% of exposed young children were admitted to the hospital. Then talk with families about safe storage, without shame.
- Give every student a trusted adult. Check rosters so that every child is known by name and story. Ask staff to hold brief, intentional conversations that open with questions. Track connectedness on your climate survey as closely as you track discipline referrals.
A Question Worth Asking Your Team
Look at last year’s discipline data for substance-related incidents. How many students received help, and how many received days at home? Which grade levels showed the first cases, and who noticed them? Your answers will show where your system puts its energy after a student is caught.
This week, pull your substance-use discipline data and schedule one honest conversation with your leadership team about what it reveals.
#EducationalLeader,
Kim
When schools are well led, students learn well.
References
- Jamal, A., Park-Lee, E., Birdsey, J., West, A., Cornelius, M., Cooper, M. R., Cowan, H., Wang, J., Sawdey, M. D., Cullen, K. A., & Navon, L. (2024). Tobacco product use among middle and high school students – National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2024. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
- Steiner, R. J., Sheremenko, G., Lesesne, C., Dittus, P. J., Sieving, R. E., & Ethier, K. A. (2019). Adolescent connectedness and adult health outcomes.
- Tompa, R. (2025, August 21). Young people and nicotine: Five things to know. Stanford Medicine News Center.
- Truth Initiative. (n.d.). What should educators do if they catch students vaping at school?
- Tweet, M. S., Nemanich, A., & Wahl, M. (2023). Pediatric edible cannabis exposures and acute toxicity: 2017–2021.
The views shared herein are solely those of Dr. Kim D. Moore and do not necessarily reflect the positions of her employer, the school district, or any local, state, or federal government entity.
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