In London 8% of girls consider themselves vapers (stock photo)
(Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)Just two per cent of boys in London secondary schools class themselves as current e-cigarette users, compared with eight per cent of girls.
The data, from NHS Digital, shows that boys in the capital are the least likely to say they vape than pupils anywhere else in the country — and by some margin.
For schoolgirls, the region with the lowest percentage of vapers is the East Midlands, where five per cent class themselves as current users.
Paul Walton, deputy head of All Saints Catholic College in Kensington, warned that vaping in London schools is still a “huge issue” and his school suspended 18 pupils for vaping in the last academic year.
He said: “Schools must have a hard message because ultimately we are talking about nicotine, a highly addictive drug. If you don’t, then you send out a message that it’s not that dangerous and not that big an issue.”
He said the pupils were suspended for possessing a vape or vaping in the community while in uniform but there had been no incidents since. Although it is illegal to sell the products to under-18s, Mr Walton said he has seen children as young as 12 vaping.
He added: “Teachers at other schools have told me they are looking to install special vape alarms in the toilets, because normal smoke alarms do not pick them up.”
The NHS Digital data shows 12 per cent of London boys aged 11 to 15 say they have used vapes, which is the lowest rate in the country. In Yorkshire and the Humber the figure for boys is 29 per cent.
The Department of Health wrote to heads last month stating that: “Vaping should not be used by people under 18 or non-smokers — particularly as the long-term harms are unknown.”
