Vaping Among Teenagers

We all know that society these days is desperately trying hard to make innovations that could bring or raise a person’s confidence. In relation to that many different trends came at different seasons and these trends got viral so fasts with the help of different social networks. Even parents find it a hard time coping up with the demand list of their teenage kids. Snapchats, new gadgets or at least an upgraded cellphone model, dance crazes, new clothes and even the use of tobacco cigarettes are only a few of it. But, one that greatly struck the whole society including huge industries is the increasing use of e-cigarettes or vaporizers commonly known as vaping among teenagers particularly in college. The use of e-cigarettes has reached to various

schools and universities drawing the attention of many individuals especially to the concern of the faculty to the health of their students. It has also raised so many questions to many researchers, not only that, but also to the teachers including the students --- questions related to the very purpose of using this gadget. It even outsold tobacco products the large industries are making. Many people concluded that it is a way-better alternative for the traditional smoking for many reasons. To support this conclusion, many researchers conducted so many studies including surveys. However, only speculations were made over it because researchers can not sufficiently support it due to lack of evidence and since health issues regarding its use is not that significant yet. It’s a new technology we still haven’t known so much about its long-term risks (The G Brief, 2016). But even if proven a good alternative, there is still more to it than that. “Firstly, smoking isn’t really about nicotine, at least not on its own. There are a whole host of triggers that smokers depend on as part of their habit, from the environment, to the kick of the cigarette and the feeling of relaxation when they blow that comforting cloud of smoke out into the atmosphere”( News, 2016). In Silliman University, many students, although not noticeable, are already using e-cigarettes. Some for the purpose of stopping the smoking habit, some as depressants but many for the purpose of satisfying social needs. The use of vaping among Sillimanian college students is a social fad.
E-cigarettes are battery-powered device that works just as the same as the combustible cigarettes, heats the nicotine liquid but instead of making smoke it emits water vapors which users inhale (The G Brief, 2016). E-cig is invented by a Chinese pharmacist named Hon lik. It was inspired by the death of his father because of a lung disease caused by smoking --- a habit he also wanted to quit (Vape Connection Australia, 2015). Basically, the purpose of its creation is to help stop smokers from smoking. However, the use of vaping in Silliman broke that sole purpose and brought it to a different aspect. Before it was a cessation aid but it became more of a social fad after wards.
There are many reasons on how it became a social fad.

First, it has become a novelty. According to Sherry Emery, a senior research scientist currently examining youth and adult smoking behaviors at the University of Illinois at Chicago, teenagers vape because it is a novelty. By that she means it is the nature of teenagers to explore and engage in new stuff, besides, what they thought about it is fun and exciting (Huffingtonpost, 2015). The substantia/ventral segmental area or SN/VTA, a part of the brain, is responsible in responding to novel stimuli and is the major “novelty center” of the brain (Cooper, 2013). In the survey we conducted, 28% of the respondents, who are of random courses and years, thought that people vape because they want to try something new. It is common among us that we conform to new stuff or everything new in general. When something comes out and becomes a fad then later on becomes a trend, many people then will try to obtain them. An increase in dopamine (a reward chemical) levels, in the context of novelty, resulted in animal studies when brains reacted to novelty and this increase in hormone is what causes us to want explorations and seek rewards from it (Cooper, 2013). It is inevitable that our eyes get attracted to anything that is new and unique. New hair colors, new clothes and new places to venture are only a few of those new. We cannot even deny the fact that, without being conscious, we are always pulled by it (Cooper, 2013). Professor Christine Batiles of Silliman University said that the sociology or the behavior behind the fad is because of the behavior specifically called “Collective Behavior”. “Collective behavior is a term sociologists use to refer to a miscellaneous set of behaviors in which large numbers of people engag” (Barkan, 2012). “More specifically, collective behavior is relatively spontaneous and relatively unstructured behavior by large numbers of individuals acting with or being influenced by other

individuals” (Barkan, 2012). The Philippines was thought to be individualistic in culture but according to The Geert Hofstede Center in comparing Philippines with Japan, in a score of 32 with 46 respectively, our country turned out to be more collectivist than individualistic (ikalwewe, 2013). That would mean that we are interdependent with each other. Since we are interdependent, we often get exposed to the behavior of one for example, our friends, classmates and even our relatives. Many students vape because they are greatly influenced by the people around them. From the information of our resource person, he said he was the one who introduced vaping to his friends; however it was not for social means but it was primarily for helping his friends stop smoking. It is also common among Filipinos that we conform to the new trends in the society in order to get along with others. In the Normative Social Influence Theory, according to social psychology, it is the influence of a person that causes us to conform to be able to be liked by them (Wikipedia, 2016).
Also, the tricks they can do with vape are one of the reasons. It has been found out in research that young people do not consider vaping as smoking. In addition, the nicotine that e-cigarettes contain is of their little interest. The flavors and the tricks they can do, however, are what they are really interested in. In the journal Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, a six-month research financially supported by Lancashire Country Council investigated trends in the attitudes and behaviors of people age 14-25 towards smoking and they found out that people who used e-cigarettes to stop smoking only contain 28% of all the participants( Doward & Agerholm, 2016). In the survey we conducted, 26 respondents think that they are into doing smoke tricks and that comprises 29% of the total respondents. It is the tricks they can do, at least not all, that caused them to vape. It also gave vapers that sensation of enjoyment when they perform vaping with different smoke tricks like forming its vapor to an “O” shape. Moreover, it has become a sport to many vapers. Vaporium, a New York e-cigarette emporium is currently holding vape competitions. According to Fiona Measham, a professor of criminology at the School of Applied Social Science at Durham University, most vape experts that are so in to the competition of “cloud chasing”, with the best they can, avoids the application of nicotine to their devices because it affects their vaping “performances”(Doward & Agerholm, 2016).
Vaping is also a means of socializing, but specifically, socializing to people who also vape. For socially active people, one way to have a perfect fellowship with friends and even strangers is vaping. Vapers can relate to each other through their personal vaping stories, different flavors, sharing of juices and even giving advices or tips to each other or getting it from a reliable source. “If we’re honest, blowing smoke makes people feel pretty cool. A lot of us as kids used to act like we were smoking cigarettes when it was cold out and you could see your breath in the air. Even though you might think it looks dumb, some people think it makes you cool, and it can give the person who’s vaping a heightened sense of self security” (Ian, 2016). It could be possible that vapers are connoisseurs. A person so obsessed to vaping is a “lover of