SRSLY Manchester students release 
public service announcement to curb vape use among youth

Still frame from the SRSLY Manchester anti-vaping PSA.

SRSLY Manchester middle and high school students recently released a public service announcement, Escape the Vape, aimed at educating their peers about potential risks and harm associated with e-cigarette and marijuana use. The PSA features facts about what has been found in vapes and what vaping can do to the body. It also points out that even though vaping is on the rise, most students in Manchester still choose to live substance-free.

To watch the PSA, go to www.youtube.com and search "Vaping PSA SRSLY Manchester" or https://youtu.be/vXUq1mWsb_A  

According to the 2018 Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth (MiPHY) survey, 96% of seventh grade students in Manchester reported they had not used a vape in the past 30 days, and 66% of Manchester high school students said they did not use a vape in the past 30 days.

The Escape the Vape PSA was developed as part of the larger "SRSLY? Check Your Stats" campaign, which was implemented in 2018. The campaign, developed between Project Success and the SRSLY Manchester Coalition, brings together students, administrators, and parents and provides them with local data regarding substance use. Though data, the campaign seeks to reduce feelings of peer pressure and dispel the myth that substance use is normal. Previously, the campaign had shared Manchester data about youth alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drug use.

"I really enjoyed working on this project," said a SRSLY Manchester student involved in developing the PSA, "even though I stumbled over my lines often. Working on where and how we were going to set up the video was very fun."

Michaela Buckhannon, the Project Success counselor at Manchester and Chelsea middle schools and high schools, worked with students to create the PSA. In her role, Buckhannon is responsible for counseling and educating students about substance use.

"If you ask a student what the risk and harm is in smoking cigarettes or using tobacco chew, they are quick to say cancer," Buckhannon said. "But if you ask them about the health risks of vaping, they don't know."

According to the Monitoring the Future study conducted by the University of Michigan, 80 percent of youth do not see great risk of harm from regularly vaping. While most students in Manchester are not regularly vaping, the rapid increase of e-cigarette use is still concerning.

A report from the U.S. Surgeon General found that the number of students using a vape between 2011 and 2015 increased by more than 900%.

In 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that 10.7 million American teenagers have used or are open to trying e-cigarettes, and more than 2.4 million middle and high school students were currently using.

To learn more about the substance use stats in your community, please visit www.srslymanchester.org.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.