Tapping into teenagers’ psyche and inviting them to realise the grip vaping will assume over their lives should form a key part of the national fight against vaping, Dr Sandy Fitzgerald, a senior lecturer in marketing at RMIT University, told EducationHQ. 

Fitzgerald said although recently announced vaping reforms signalled the Government was doing “absolutely the right thing” at the macro policy level, schools and parents had a critical role to play in getting real cut-through with children. 

For starters, top-down laws and regulations aren’t always well received initially by defiant young people who might feel invincible, Fitzgerald said. 

“It's almost like a knee-jerk reaction, they think, ‘This is another form of control’. 

“They think ‘I don't need to be told what to do, again. I don’t need to be put on further restrictions, again. The Government has been like a third parent telling us what to do and what not to do, because they think they know best’,” Fitzgerald said. 

“Hence, from a marketing perspective we need to shift to really understanding our target audience…”

While vaping might offer instant gratification in the form of social status or quell a curiosity-driven urge, if teenagers are forced to grapple with the prospect of the lifelong consequences they’ll face, the message will hit home more than any punitive measure, the expert warned. 

“From my perspective, for the campaign to be effective, we really need to get young people thinking about what they want to achieve in their future, and getting them to understand that yes, with vaping you get social capital and there’s peer pressure and all that. 

“But it's [an] instant kick that they get in social currency – they look cool in the moment, but [it’s about] getting them to think about the bigger picture and what they could be missing out on in the long-run.”

Dr Sandy Fitzgerald says student leaders should be tasked with leading the anti-vaping campaign in schools. 

Young people must understand that by vaping now, they are essentially ‘vaping their freedom’ away, Fitzgerald said. 

“Because they will literally be a pawn to tobacco, [and spend their] life addicted to something, which will, in the long run, cost a lot more money than they can imagine.

“If they are hooked on nicotine, it's another thing for them to overcome in the future. So, I think that might resonate with them a little bit more.” 

Schools have been battling to control students vaping on campus, with many resorting to detectors in toilets, perforated screens for visibility and staff toilet monitors to try and combat the escalating problem. 

A recent survey of 218 school staff members across public, Catholic and independent secondary schools found nearly half (46 per cent) reported finding a student with a vape on campus at least monthly, and one-third of principals reported suspending or expelling students at least monthly for vape possession or use.

One secondary teacher from Victoria previously told EducationHQ that a rotating roster of staff were now required to stand outside the toilets at recess and lunch to ensure students did not vape inside.

The public school has also installed vape detectors in the toilets, but it was an ongoing issue, she said. 

“The deputy principal watches the live feed of students going in and out. They have to go in one at a time now because they used to enter in groups so we couldn’t tell who was vaping and who wasn’t.

“It’s just really sad.” 

The teacher said the school offered just one session covering the risks of vaping to Year 9s. 

“It’s mainly the boys that [vape at school]. I’m not sure these kids even care about the dangers … it’s more they don’t want to follow the rules.” 

Fitzgerald said “grassroots change” could happen in schools if student leaders were tasked with leading the anti-vaping campaign. 

“Identifying a student that other students respect, that have an ‘x-factor’, and get them to be the leaders – give them a responsibility to lead the charge in changing the culture of the school to stop them vaping…

“It could be those students who have tried it out of curiosity once and stopped. They could lead the discussion about how vaping actually is not good, and talk about how vaping can strip away their freedom, slowly but surely.” 

Parents and teachers too must “absolutely be involved,” Fitzgerald said. 

“I think about it as three-pronged approach: the parents, the teachers and also the student opinion leaders that are admired by the student body at large. 

“I think that could be pretty effective.” 

Offering empathy and understanding to students would also go a long way, lessening the likelihood of them shutting down or getting defensive, the expert noted. 

“I think that’s the most important thing, because just thinking back to my teenage years, it's an awkward time, and teenagers are not doing it just to be rebellious – they're curious. 

“Teachers need to go in with, ‘Oh, you're doing this? Can we chat about it?’ And show some understanding and some interest about why they started vaping in the first place.” 

Fitzgerald's interest in the anti-vaping space was first piqued when her six-year-old daughter came home from school and mentioned the issue. 

"Thankfully she's pretty opinionated for a six-year-old, she said, 'that's a stupid thing to vape'.

"That was music to my ears."