Channahon Jr. High | From the Principal
Channahon Jr. High
January 11, 2019
Dear Parents,
Back in October, we emailed home a letter making you aware of the latest substance use trend in middle schools and high schools across America, known as vaping. As we explained in that letter, vaping is the process of inhaling and exhaling aerosol (vapor) produced by an e-cigarette device that is often disguised by looking like an everyday item such as a pen or USB stick. The vapor is quite often odorless and dissipates instantly. In an effort to be informative for our families and preventative for our students, I wanted to send out a second letter today with additional statistics and information about the dangers of vaping. I encourage parents to consider continuing this ongoing discussion about these dangers with their junior high child, as we have here at school as educators. Studies have shown that when we confront difficult subjects with our children directly, such as the dangers of drugs, alcohol and vaping, in a straight-forward, caring and preventative way, they are many times less likely to experiment with those substances.
Attached you will find informative fliers provided by Scholastic and the Food and Drug Administration. The most alarming trend I pulled from it was that e-cigarette use across the nation has increased by 48% in the past year in middle schools (78% in high schools) and that 7.2% of the nation’s Middle School students use tobacco/e-cigarette products currently (27% in high school). The goal at CJHS is to keep our school safe and healthy for our students. We are diligent in our enforcement of substance-use safety rules, yet we especially value being preventative, proactive and informative with our students and families before dangerous or unhealthy national trends develop. More information can be found at https://e-cigarettes.surgeongeneral.gov.
Thank you for all that you continue to do as amazing parents in making Channahon the safest and best school district in Illinois! If you have any further questions about this important health and safety topic, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Dr. Chad Uphoff Mr. Brad Homerding
CJHS Principal Dean of Students