WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Nicotine use, especially among teens, has been a hot button topic in our area for years now. So, with places like Northampton even going so far as to ban sales outright to protect students, the question remains, what can you do to prevent your kid from picking up nicotine, and if they do, how can you help?

Western Mass News is getting answers on exactly that, from one of the figures on the frontlines.

In high schools across the country, the “nicotine free generation,” has been more like the ‘free nicotine’ generation...’ and with companies now coming out with hidden devices like this, ‘penjamin.’

Along with vaporless products like these Zyns here, keeping tabs on your kids’ safety is harder than ever.

“We just don’t know the full scope of what’s going to happen in terms of health for long-term vape users,” Belinda McDonnell, a health educator with over 23 years of experience at West Springfield High School, who helps kids with issues like nicotine use every day.

While we may not know the specifics of long-term use just yet, in more immediate terms, “The human brain doesn’t finish developing until the age of 26. So, when we initiate that contact with the brain and some of the kids in the high milligram dosages that they’re using, they’re creating a long-term habit that will have a negative impact on their health,” McDonnell told us, with today’s accessibility, the times have certainly changed.

“Now, vaping [is] a lot more concealable. They started marketing them as a better way to get nicotine into your system. So, people that never smoked were going, oh, I wonder what this is all about. Then, companies specifically started marketing them to kids,” McDonnell said.

She emphasized that this marketing, whether it be by way of flavors like ‘fruity pebbles,’ or easy-to-conceal devices like USB sticks... Takes advantage of the tendencies that already make teens more inclined than other age groups to ‘give it a try.’

“At this age, your peers play a huge role in, like, how you view yourself. And I believe it’s true that a teenager’s number one goal is to be accepted by their peers. And sometimes, they’ll go through different phases of trying different things, settling in with different groups of kids. So now, there’s not this awkward time where we’re hanging out together with nothing to do, but now we’re sharing in this.”

And the stats back her up: the 2025 Massachusetts Youth Health Survey showed that 23.5% of high school students have tried vaping.

It’s a big number that doesn’t even account for vaporless products like Zyns, but it’s still solid improvement from 2023’s survey that showed 30.4% had tried, and a sharp decrease from 2019, where about 51% had tried. So, progress is being made.

To keep it moving forward, there has to be a balance between punishment and support, but when the issue finds its way onto school grounds, “If a kid gets caught using a vape on school grounds, if they’re an athlete, they lose a quarter of their season. That’s an MIAA policy. In terms of in-school, you’re going to get one or two days in in-school suspension,” McDonnell said.

She emphasized the key to avoiding these situations is at home with open communication — and a focus on wellbeing rather than disobedience, “as a parent, my perspective was always, well, let me try to get on the same level as the kids. If it were me, I would be more concerned about their health than upset that they used the device that I didn’t want them to use. So, we would learn about it and talk about all the consequences from money to health to, you know, the social piece of it.”

But it’s not a conversation you have to have alone, “The American Lung Association actually has a lot of different supports. And then, specific to residents of Massachusetts, there is a free called My Life, My Quit program that kids can do right from their phone,” McDonnell said.

Plus, locally, McDonnell herself is certified to teach for the American Lung Association’s ‘Not on Tobacco’ program, “Basically, it’s teaching kids coping strategies. We talk about exercising, eating right, and getting enough sleep. And then replacing your habit with something that’s healthier for you. Like, we do a lot of guided mental imagery. We do a lot of deep breathing. Um, we talk about nutrition. The impetus though has to be the kid has to want to quit.”