The electronic cigarette or e-cigarette.
KOTA KINABALU: Primary school pupils are turning up with electronic cigarettes (e-cigarette) in a school that has sent shocked waves among their teachers.
Puzzling them further is that the parents of the pupils caught with the e-cigarettes do not see anything with their children smoking such cigarettes.
A primary school headmistress in Kota Kinabalu disclosed that she was having problems taking disciplinary actions against the pupils because the parents themselves were saying that the e-cigarettes cause no harm.
“These parents said they have the e-cigarettes at home and it was not a big deal at all smoking it,” the headmistress said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the headmistress said she also heard of cases of students’ parents themselves buying the e-cigarette for their teenage children who smoke.
“The parents do this because their children are smokers and they feel that it could help their teenagers slowly quit the habit this way,” she said.
An electronic cigarette (or e-cigarette), personal vaporizer (PV), or electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) is an electronic inhaler designed to look like normal cigarettes meant to stimulate and substitute for tobacco smoking.
The matter was brought to the school’s attention when about eight of their pupils were caught buying and selling the items in their classrooms.
The headmistress said she was told that the students, mostly 12-year-olds, smoked the e-cigarettes after school within the compound in groups.
“We are now seeking clarification from the education department on how to handle this,” she said, adding that there is a need to act on this problem such as providing counseling to the parents and pupils and to conduct regular spot checks.
“Spot check is a good method to prevent such incidents from happening in school but we, as teachers, would prefer if the Education Department and relevant ministry could issue a proper directive on how to handle this,” said the headmistress.
The benefits or health risks of the device which utilises a heating element that vaporizes a liquid solution, some of which release nicotine, or flavoured vapour is still under debate.
The Health Ministry is also still deciding whether to ban the sales of these electronic device altogether.
Meanwhile, SK Tanjung Aru II Parents Teachers Association chairman Abdul Manap Lakariba said he was shocked to learn that there were pupils into such habits.
“This is a problem that should be looked into seriously,” he said, adding that parents must be role models to their children if they want their children to grow up well and be successful in life.
“It has been reported that this e-cigarette poses health hazard to its users so to think that there are parents who have opposite opinion is just absurd,” he said.
“Parents need to set a good example and not just depend on teachers to teach their children,” he said.
Abdul Manap said the school would also monitor their pupils to ensure that they would not have similar problems there.
Sabah Education Department Director Jame Alip said he had called on the school about the matter, and would bring the matter up in future meetings.
“E-cigarette is similar to smoking and any form of smoking is of course banned in schools, so I hope parents and students take heed of this,” he said.
Jame said although there was no directive from the government on the banning of these products, it was clear that the department does not agree nor allows the smoking of e-cigarettes.
“This matter will be discussed further with the Education Ministry,” he stressed.
Earlier, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam had said that the Government was mulling a ban on shisha or waterpipe smoking and e-cigarettes.