Behaviour adviser urges English schools to crack down on pupils’ vaping

‘Schools need to be spaces where children are protected from narcotics of all forms,’ says Tom Bennett, the government’s school behaviour adviser. Photograph: David Jones/PA

The government’s school behaviour adviser has called on headteachers to crack down on vaping among pupils, calling it “a huge health hazard” and an “enormous distraction”, amid reports that more children are using the devices, including some of primary age.

Tom Bennett said vaping was now as big an issue in schools as cigarettes once were, with children becoming “addicted to the practice and the chemicals involved”.