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Mishawaka High School Introduces New Program To Discourage Students From Vaping

CHEYNA ROTH / MICHIGAN RADIO

    

Mishawaka High School presented the board of trustees Wednesday night with a new plan they’ve been using to discourage students from vaping.

The new disciplinary plan requires students caught with vaping products, or other drugs, on school grounds to go to education classes with the district’s DARE officer. It also involves the Mishawaka Police Department that gives out citations to students under 18-years-old and $145 tickets for repeat offenses.

This is opposed to the old plan where offending students would get out-of-school suspension. School officials said that was not effective in curbing e-cigarette use.

Lt. Tim Williams is the DARE officer who holds the educational classes. He said students are often unaware of how vaping can harm them.

“It’s more of a prevention thing, working together to prevent the vaping from occurring at our schools and honestly we’re working together to prevent the addiction that it causes.”

Jessica Mann is the Dean of Students at MHS and helped create the program. She said 25 students have gone through the program so far this school year.

“This gives them an opportunity to get some information but also talk to someone they trust about their addiction problem and get hooked up with some resources.”

 
Mann said school officials will join the DARE officer in sending an email to Governor Eric Holcomb this week to ask for funding for more vaping education classes.

Contact Annacaroline at acaruso@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @AnnacarolineC16

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