Vapes in schools: The scale of the issue revealed with kids as young as five vaping

Thousands of teachers from across England are warning that vaping in schools is causing widespread issues with children's behaviour and health.

Teaching union NASUWT commissioned a survey of 4,000 teachers - and more than 85% of them warned vaping on school premises is causing problems.

It comes as a Bath Professor who tested vapes in 30 schools in England found Spice and THC present in vapes in 25 of those schools.

He is now fearful a child will die this summer holiday because their vape is unknowingly laced with Spice.

Across the country, teachers raised their concerns about the impact it was having on their education and the concerning behaviour they were seeing attached to the habit.

NASUWT has shared data from the South West exclusively with ITV West Country. Almost 84% of those surveyed in the South West said vaping is an issue in their school.

Teachers also spoke of it being commonplace for students to miss lessons so they can go to the toilet to vape, with some pupils lying that they feel sick to get out of class.

In their comments, teachers spoke of "pressure" on students to buy and sell vapes - saying pupils were purchasing them from "dealers" and likening this to county lines drug dealing.

County lines operations are when drug dealers in major cities establish networks for the supply and sale of drugs to users in towns and rural areas, using other people.

Some teaching staff also reported having to confiscate vapes from children as young as five.

Vaping in lessons was described as a "huge problem" by many of the teachers surveyed, with them also warning pupils were regularly vaping on school buses, at bus stops and in corridors.

They said vaping is so common in toilets - where teachers cannot police it - that students who do not vape no longer want to use the bathrooms.

It has also been blamed for damage to school property as students try to get rid of used vapes by stuffing them into sinks and pipes.

Teachers say they are also having to spend more time policing vape use - including searching school bags on trips.

One teacher said they found children in Year 1 and Year 2 with vapes - they were five and six years old.

“The vapes were given to the children by their mum and Friday is their ‘smoking day’,” they added.

Another spoke of catching students with vapes containing THC, describing them as “highly dangerous” and having an impact on their education.

“Parents don’t seem to care,” one teacher wrote. “Some actually buy the vapes for the kids. The government need to really make this a priority. This is going to be the next public health crisis.”

Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of NASUWT, said: “More than eight in ten teachers have told us that vaping is a problem in their schools.

"We want to see the new Government act to protect children and young people from the dangers of vaping and we welcome the proposed Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

"Vaping amongst young people has become a public health emergency.

"These products are highly accessible, affordable and marketed in ways which make then attractive and appealing to children.

"Pupils leaving lessons in order to vape is not only damaging their education but also their health.

"We will also be pressing the Government to ban all sales of disposable vapes as part of measures to protect children’s health."

A government spokesperson said: “We are banning vapes from being branded and advertised to appeal to children, including restricting their packaging, flavours and display.

“In addition, last year the government launched an illicit vapes enforcement squad to crack down on illegal sellers and undertake testing of products”.