Juul Nation

Students around Triton of all ages have been vaping on school premises.

Marlee Smith and a Erika Siemasko, Staff Writers

A juul is an alternative for cigarettes and aims to convert ten million adult smokers across the world. The goal of a juul is to eliminate smoking completely, but they have recently become very popular in young adults. Across Triton High School, many kids have come obsessed with juuls and other vaping devices.
Juulpods contain 5% nicotine and are equivalent to a pack of cigarettes. Juul pods are available in the flavors mango, virginia tobacco, cool mint, fruit medley, creme brulee, and occasionally a limited edition flavor.
Triton has a strict policy of drug and alcohol use on school grounds which states, “Our drug and alcohol programs and prevention efforts have been developed to clearly convey the following message to our students that the use of illicit drugs and the unlawful possession and use of alcohol are wrong and harmful. Such use will not be tolerated on school premises.” across Triton has become a big problem. Students are frequently seen vaping in bathrooms and sneaking capes under their sleeves and doing it in class. We interviewed a few teachers to see their opinions about juuls and vaping.
Finance teacher Mr. Fisher gave his input on vaping to The Triton Voice.“No I haven’t seen any kids in my class vaping, but I will definitely look out for it.” stated Mr.Fisher. “ I know that kids do vape in the bathroom and Ithink we have a lot of smart kids here so I don’t expect kids to vape here, especially in my classroom.” said Fisher. .
Students are known to hangout in the library restrooms, avoid class, and vape. Librarian Mrs. Van Twuyver explained her thoughts on this.
“I have suspected, but I have not caught anyone vaping in the bathrooms in the library.” said Van Twuyver. “I will have students who complain about other kids vaping in the stalls to me, but unfortunately I have not caught any students vaping.”

History and psychology teacher Mrs. Nic shares her knowledge on vaping with The Triton Voice.
“I have caught kids in my class with a vape but have never caught a kid vaping. I know nothing about vaping so I forgot about it because I can’t smell it and I’ve never caught kids vaping up their sleeves. I am a vapid when it comes to vaping I don’t know anything about it.” said Mrs. Nic.
Anonymous students have decided to share their opinions about juuling and vaping with The Triton Voice.
“I think that juuls are fine because kids could be smoking cigarettes and juuls are a better option. Kids are keeping them down low and they are not causing problems in the school, so I don’t think they are an issue in Triton.” shared a Triton senior.
“Everytime I go into the bathroom there are always a few kids vaping in the stalls, but I do not think it is a problem considering that students are responsible with them and are not being ignorant with them.” shared another Triton student.
“I cannot go a day without my juul if I’m being honest. I admit, I am addicted.” shared a Triton senior.
“If someone from the school were to ever take away my juul, I would just go out and buy another one. I do not think the school can do anything about this issue because kids will just buy them again and they will not stop.” shared another Triton student.
Well, are juuls truly better than cigarettes? That’s up for you to decide. Triton Vikings seem to love them, so who knows if they’ll stick around or end up in the trash.