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Detroit teens speak out on the dangers of vaping, plan to hold town hall Wednesday

Posted at 9:10 AM, Dec 18, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-18 09:35:49-05

DETROIT (WXYZ) — Vaping and our kids. It's a hot topic, with hazardous consequences, and now, kids want to talk about it, and they want the adults to listen.

Four young scholars, all high schoolers from Wayne County, met with their instructors to brainstorm ideas and decided to speak frankly and create a video about vaping to help educate their peers about the dangers of vaping.

"Teenagers and middle schoolers, they don't vape just because they like the feel of it and they want to feel grown up. There are home problems, there are self-esteem problems" Kenndall Wallace said.

The students said that adults should talk more with their kids and students about why they're vaping, be more compassionate, instead of just taking it away and punishing them.

"You being hostile just brings more pain towards them, so they are going to keep doing the actions that they do," Saniya McMillian, from Mumford High School, said.

In Wayne County, alcohol is the No. 1 drug of choice. 27 1/2% of high school students use e-cigarettes, and teen e-cigarette smokers are more-likely to start smoking in six months.

Now, Detroit Public Schools Community District, the Wayne Integrated Health Network, and 7 Action News' Andrea Isom, will be at a town hall on Wednesday to talk about vaping.

It's at East English Village Preparatory Academy at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

It's going to be a youth-led discussion about the myths and the facts of alcoholism and vaping.