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Wednesday, January 23, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Apply ‘damage control’
to vaping
By Andrew Roe
Guest Columnist
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what you can do to help. It is greatly appre-
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where public employees feel valued and
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This is, unfortunately, not the case
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We are all looking to getting back to
work once this is resolved to care for the
land and serve you, the citizens of Sisters
Country.
Ian Reid
Sisters District Ranger
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Regarding the articles
in the January 16 Nugget
regarding vaping:
I smoked cigarettes for
several years and started
when I was 18 in high
school. I understand how
there can be a certain ele-
ment of pressure involved
when your friends and
people you know are doing
that. But what I have also
realized over the years is
that a lot of times school
staff, parents, and con-
cerned adults can exacer-
bate the issue by taking a
controlling approach.
This never worked for
me and I9m sure it hasn9t
for many others. Believe
it or not, some students
may be doing this just
because of the rebellious
element associated with it.
I enjoyed rebelling back
when I was a teenager. I
think it is important for
us to all ask some deeper
questions, like: why is this
the case? Why do teenag-
ers even care to start try-
ing drugs and rebelling to
begin with? I was person-
ally very fed up at that age;
it was sort of a statement
along with something I felt
made me look cool in front
of my friends.
My high school had
random drug tests, but you
can also buy fake pee to
get around those. There9s
always loopholes and I
think it would be wise for
people to remember that it
is always going to be an
individual9s decision for
what they actually do in
life.
I personally do not even
believe that many of these
high schoolers should
even be called <kids.= I
understand maybe using
that term before high
school but once someone
has reached the age of 15
or 16 they are pretty much
reaching young adulthood.
I think it is unfair to call
these high schoolers kids
because I think that can
downplay how smart they
actually are.
What I really firmly
believe is that all of the
facts need to be laid down
so students can understand
the risks and also short-
term rewards from doing
something like vaping.
Just saying drugs are bad
and acting like there is
no reward will pique a
person9s interest even
more when they hear all
of their friends saying
otherwise.
From what I remember,
schools used to use very
much of a fear campaign
against drugs instead of
an informative campaign.
I feel like more neu-
tral information needs to
be conveyed so we can
all take a step back and
respect the person9s deci-
sion to do what they are
possibly going to do either
way. Yes, students can be
prevented from trying E
cigarettes, but not by con-
trolling them.
It is absolutely essential
for them to be informed
with more nonbiased
information so they can
understand the risks with-
out a picture being painted
of <this is bad and you are
bad if you do this.= This
sort of black-and-white
approach of trying to scare
someone away from some-
thing that could be harm-
ful is not as effective. I9m
not in any way saying that
Sisters schools are doing
that, but I just remember
that was the case with the
high school I went to.
I feel like good infor-
mation is absolutely the
key to prevention. Schools
should practice some-
thing known as <damage
control.= Realistically,
many students and people
are going to experiment
a little bit in their lives.
That doesn9t mean they9re
going to be addicted auto-
matically, but it is really
good to recognize this
instead of taking an all-or-
nothing approach. Maybe
advising students that do
decide to vape not to vape
every single day or they
will risk an even greater
potential of getting further
addicted.
These concepts can be
helpful with other things
such as alcohol as well,
teaching a person to know
their limits rather than tell-
ing them they should never
try this until the age of 21.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.