Mum ‘felt powerless’ to stop her daughter starting vaping aged just 12

48% of children caught vaping are less than eleven years old, research has found.

A study by insurance company Zurich that included 1,000 British parents with children aged between five and 17 revealed that one in seven children have been caught vaping. Shockingly, almost half of those were less than eleven years old.

Children are sourcing vapes in a variety ways, with 38% of schoolchildren buying them from their friends.

The study also found that 32% of children caught actually stole their vapes from family members, 29% bought them online and 22% used a fake ID to buy a vape in a shop.

Holly Bowman, a 17-year-old schoolgirl from Ireland, began vaping when she was just 12 and ‘really regrets’ that decision.

‘When I started vaping it was no big deal,’ she said.

‘It was just something that everyone else did and it made me feel grown up. At no point did I think it was going to be a long-term thing.

‘Little did I know I would become addicted so quickly. When you’re 12 you don’t even know what addiction is really.

‘Five years later I still can’t kick the habit. Both the cost and health implications aren’t sustainable for me. It’s a decision I really regret.’

Holly’s Mum, Nicky Bowman, sits on the board of management at an Irish school and says vaping is a challenge she has deal with every day.

‘It’s a huge problem,’ she said.

‘We’ve had to increase CCTV at the school because there were hidden corners where kids would vape in between lessons. We had to introduce new toilet rules because kids as young as eleven are vaping.

‘It’s a huge concern for the school but also for me as a mum. We don’t really know what the long- term impact of vaping is yet, but we know it can’t be healthy.’

The Zurich study also found that 34% of parents would welcome a national public awareness campaign educating people on how to safely dispose of single use vapes.

The study comes just weeks after Keir Starmer announced that he is considering imposing a ban on smoking in pub gardens and other outdoor areas as part of the Labour government’s attempts to ‘boost health’.

Speaking to reporters, the Prime Minister said: ‘My starting point on this is to remind everybody that 80,000 people lose their lives every year because of smoking.

‘That’s a huge burden on the NHS, and, of course, it’s a burden on the taxpayer.’

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