A school has spent £4,000 to install sensors in its toilets to crack down on student vaping.
Baxter College in Kidderminster is one of the first schools in the UK to use the devices, which detect e-cigarette vapor and send an alert to management.
The sensors also pick up sounds above a certain volume and can detect whether the devices have been tampered with.
Staff hope it will discourage vaping, which has become popular with teenagers.
Headmaster Matthew Carpenter told the BBC: “When we conducted student surveys many of our younger students said they did not like going to the toilet because students went there to vape and felt uncomfortable doing so.
“Vaping is a nationwide problem. I think a lot of schools… are talking about what a problem it is in their toilets. There is a lot of interest.
“[The sensors] aren’t cheap, but they make a big difference, so there are a few [head teachers] come out to see how we implemented it.”
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Mr Carpenter said the school had noticed a “substantial” difference in the frequency with which students wanted to go to the toilet during class.
“We log every time a child goes to the bathroom and we’ve seen a decrease…to help students focus more on their learning, and that’s what they’re here for.”
Mr Carpenter said some students were caught vaping within days of installation by the on-call team dispatched to the toilets when the sensors were activated.
“Kids will always push boundaries,” he added.
When asked about the kids’ reaction, one student said, “A lot of my buddies weren’t happy about that because a lot of people are.”
The charity Action on Smoking and Health estimated that for the first time in 2022, more 11-17 year olds had tried an e-cigarette (15.7%) than a cigarette (14.4%).
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