WRMJ spoke with Mercer County High School principal Stacey Day Thursday following an email she sent to parents.
| MCHS Parents –
I’m sure some of you have seen or heard the story on the news over the weekend about the vape device that had THC and fentanyl in it found at North Scott School District in the Quad Cities. I want to touch base about vapes here at MCHS. We know that many (maybe even the majority) of our students vape regularly or have tried a vape at some point.
As many of you know, we already have vape detectors in our bathrooms. Those detectors have helped us to identify some students who vape while at school, but we know that it is impossible for us to identify all students who have vape items on them or use their vapes at school. These devices are just too easy to hide, many have no smell with them when they are used and the vape detectors are not foolproof. We also have the P3 Tip Line App that has been set-up for the county by the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department. This app has been around for the last few years and allows for anonymous tips to be sent in for a variety of concerns. Vaping is just part of what it can be used for. Those tips go to the Sheriff’s Department first and then are shared with the school to investigate.
There are many concerns associated with the risks our students take when they choose to vape, but this new fentanyl issue is terrifying for us. Students who do not know where they are getting their vapes, who they are purchasing them from or don’t know exactly what is in the vape are putting themselves at higher risk for serious health issues and potentially death. It takes an extremely small amount of fentanyl to be deadly.
I urge you to please talk to your student. Ask if they are vaping and explain the consequences they may have for making that choice (not just the school related ones!). I am not naïve enough to think we can stop every student from making the choice to vape (both in and out of school), but if we can help even one student to think twice about it and to not end with the potentially life threatening consequences of that choice, then it is worth it.
Please reach out if you have questions or would like additional information about vaping, we can help connect you to additional resources.
Thank you, Mrs. Day
|