ROBINSON, Texas — Some school districts in Central Texas are seeing a rise in the use of vaping devices, so they're working to stop the problem.
So far, there have been 47 vape-related deaths nationwide according to the CDC. The vaping epidemic has schools concerned, so they're installing vape sensors on their campuses across the nation.
One of the districts that has them is Robinson Independent School District.
The district's safety coordinator, David Wrzesinski said they know the devices won't stop the problem, but they're hoping it will keep students from using them in the future.
The devices have been in place for about a month and Wrzesinski said they've already noticed a change.
"We've been able to kind of identify students that have them easier and get them help. Our whole goal is that it's not necessarily to catch kids, it's the same thing with our drug policy, and we're hoping that not only are they going to stop at school but they're going to stop at other places," Wrzesinski said.
Vaping has been on the radar at Robinson ISD for more than a year and at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, Wrzesinski said they noticed a rise in use.
"If we can break that cycle a little bit, that's kind of our goal is to be preventative with it," Wrzesinski said. "So we are seeing it make an impact. We've got kids going up to staff members and turning in the vapes that they have."
The vape sensors are similar to smoke alarms, but with advanced technology that can detect the smallest amount of vapor. It's so advanced, according to Wrzesinski, that it can even detect Nicotine and THC.
One of the most important things is for parents to be aware of the issue. Wrzesinski said that parents should be learning more about this epidemic and talking to their children about the dangers of vaping.
"We can talk to them but oftentimes that message coming from us is not going to have the same impact as if it comes from parents, so parents need to be aware. We've got lots of parents that's aren't aware that this is such a big problem," Wrzesinski said.
Lorena ISD is installing vape sensors at its high school campus after Thanksgiving break, according to Superintendent Joe Kucera.
Other schools in Central Texas who are looking into installing devices in the future include Temple, Midway, Bruceville-Eddy, Copperas Cove, and Troy.
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