DAYTONA BEACH — Hinson Middle School students recently learned about the dangers of tobacco and vaping during an anti-tobacco pep rally April 1.
Hosted by the school’s Parent Teacher Student Association, the goal was to educate students and their parents about the harmful effects of smoking and vaping while empowering them to stay tobacco free.
At the assembly, school board member Carl Persis noted just how “popular” vaping is in Volusia County Schools, telling the audience that the district has sent at least one person to the hospital each week this school year for vaping.
“I know it sounds like, ‘Oh, that could never happen to me,’” Persis said. “Well, the person that went to the hospital thought it could never happen to him or her either. So take it seriously. And, of course, watch out for yourselves, but I’m asking you, as middle school students, to watch out for your friends.”
Radio station HOT 94.1’s DJ Jay Love emceed the event and students listened to guest speakers and participated in basketball scrimmages with players from Bethune-Cookman University’s women’s basketball team.
Hinson Middle’s PTSA funded this event with grant money awarded from the National PTA.
“Vaping has become very popular with the middle school and high school age groups and we want to use this opportunity to not only educate on the dangers to our parents and students, but also to as many as we can,” said Amy Annon, Hinson Middle PTSA board member, in an email.
Guest speaker Walker McKnight echoed Persis’ advice and shared how vaping as a teen landed him in the hospital in need of three organ transplants.
McKnight, now 24, said he started vaping in high school as an 18-year-old. Within three months, he said, he was on life support.
After graduating from Winter Park High School, McKnight went to Florida Atlantic University to compete as a cheerleader and volleyball player at the collegiate level. However, at the start of his first year, he came home sick, visited the doctor, and learned he had an infection in his left lung.
McKnight’s dad, David McKnight, said that if his son didn’t have a double lung and kidney transplant, he would not have survived.
“My hope and prayer for all of you is that you realize that there’s dangers involved with doing drugs at all times, especially ones that have not been thoroughly tested and approved,” David McKnight said at the pep rally. “And your body is precious. Your mind is sensitive. And your heart is fragile, so take care of it. Good health is better than all the riches and fame the world has to offer because without your good health, you guys risk losing the life that is yours right now.”
McKnight reinforced his father’s message, assuring students that “vaping really is just no joke.”
“There’s no get back, and … the most important thing is you want to have a healthy body,” he said. “The only reason I survived is because of how healthy I was.”
Local stakeholders also weigh in about the dangers of smoking, vaping
Ormond Beach Mayor Bill Partington referred to smoking as a “dirty habit” and told students that “it’s not cool,” that “it’s one of the worst things you can possibly do,” and that people who smoke generally do not perform as well in the corporate world.
“One of the leading things that smoking causes: you can’t perform well,” Partington said. “We need you to perform well and stay healthy.”
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood warned students of the “unseen dangers” of vaping and said it can lead to drug addiction and impaired decision-making.
“You really, really have to think about what you’re doing,” Chitwood said. “Is it really, really worth it destroying your future for that? … Just say no. You don’t need it, you don’t need the effects that come with it later in life.”