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Triad school staff prepare for first day while anticipating student vaping issues

School staff from across the Triad say vaping in schools is a problem. This comes as Burlington police arrested a vape shop owner for selling illegal drugs.

NORTH CAROLINA, USA — The CDC says 14% of high schoolers vape and among the kids who use e-cigarettes about one in four vape daily. 

As the beginning of the school year approaches, it's a problem Triad teachers and staff know they'll have to face in both high school and middle school. 

After 45 years in education, Aldridge who is an EC teacher at Reidsville Middle School and Early College is very familiar with preparing for the first day of school. 

The start of the school year comes with a clean slate and the hope that kids will make both good grades and good decisions. 

However, Aldridge and other Triad school staff already know they're going to have to deal with the vaping trend. 

"You can go into the bathroom anytime you want to, anytime of the day, and there's going to be somebody vaping whether it's a sixth grader, seventh grader, eighth grader," Aldridge explained. 

Every school district in the state has a 100% tobacco free policy, which also prohibits the use of e-cigarettes. 

In North Carolina, you must be 21 years-old to buy vaping products and traditional tabacco products. 

So how are kids getting them? Turrentine Middel School SRO, Mario Moore says he's asked them. 

"They would tell me something like they have cousins or siblings that's old enough to get those things or they might find a loophole somewhere and the place is just not ID-ing them and feel like they're old enough," recalled Moore. 

Products bought at vape shops aren't always what they seem. 

Just last week, Burlington police charged a vape shop owner for selling illegal drugs

Police shared video they took inside of the vape shop, some of the items looking like innocent snacks, but they're actually drugs. 

While Moore says he hasn't seen a lot of these products at his school, he's heard of students experiencing the mind-altering effects. 

"We definitely had reports from teachers where they've suspected things like gum, or something like that might be laced with something just generally based off of how the kids are working so hard to get these items from certain kids or seeing how after taking these things they're acting different," said Moore. 

Through decades of experience, Aldridge says the students with the best grades and behavior have parents who monitor them. 

She encourages parents to search their kid's book bags, call their teachers, and watch what they're consuming. 

"You have no idea whatsoever what's going on with your child unless you're monitoring your child and I say that as a teacher because I'm not a parent, but I do say that at a love for a lot of kids that I've seen that are loss now or gone now because of their parents not doing that," exclaimed Aldridge. 

RELATED: 1 in 10 young adults are vaping regularly, CDC says

RELATED: Youth vaping concerns ahead of the new school year

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