Vaping Prevention Town Hall Set For Jan. 19

By Bryan Boggiano

Broward County Public Schools hopes to communicate the truth about vaping to parents and students.

The BCPS’s Equity. Diversity and School Climate Department will host a vaping prevention town hall event at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, located at 9501 Pine Island Road, on Thursday, Jan. 19. 

The event will begin at 5 p.m. and continue through 8:30 p.m. 

It will start with a resource fair from 5 p.m. until 6 p.m., followed by a panel. The panel will feature a parent, students, QuitDoc Foundation’s Dr. Barry Hummel, Jr., a parenting class teacher from the Hanley Foundation, and School Board Chair Lori Alhadeff. 

The event will be moderated by Kimberly Young, peer counseling, character education, and prevention liaison coordinator from the diversity and school climate department.

It follows in the footsteps of a similar town hall the district hosted in May 2022 at J.P. Taravella High School.

Purses and bags will not be allowed at the event.

The town hall will also stream on Facebook Live. Attendees for both the in-person and streamed options are encouraged to register online.

According to the district, the most common misperception is that everybody vapes. But, according to the BCPS climate survey, 96 percent of students have not used a vaping device in the past 30 days.

While the district is happy about the data, they know their efforts are not done yet.

“We must continue to raise awareness about the dangers of vaping to be proactive in addressing concerns and to offer resources and support to families dealing with this issue,” the BCPS Office of Communications said in a statement.

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