Tim O'Connor: Auckland Grammar headmaster on youth vaping decline

A survey of more than 30,000 of New Zealand’s Year 10 students shows that the number of teens who vape regularly has dropped by half since it's peak in 2021. 

The number of teenagers who vape on a daily basis has also dropped from “peak vape” of 10.1% in 2022, to 7.1%.

Auckland Grammar headmaster Tim O'Connor says he has noticed the shift but doesn't know what it can be attributed to.

"I don't know what's going on to tell you the truth. I don't know whether it's us being more effective, or the messages happening, or if it's just random," he told Heather du Plessis-Allan.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's talk about smoking and vaping. According to a new survey,
vaping may not be cool anymore. The annual ASH Year
ten Snapshot survey looks at the smoking and the vaping
habits of fourteen and fifteen year olds every year, and
according to the latest one, the number of year ten
students who regularly vape has fallen from fourteen to eleven percent,
and the number who vape daily has fallen from something

(00:21):
like nine to seven percent. Tim O'Connor is the Auckland
Grammar headmaster and with us now, hey, Tim, hi, are
you very well? Thank you for you seeing this few
of the kids vaping.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Here we are. I don't know. I don't know what's
going on to the choice. I don't know whether it's
us being more effective, or the messages happening, or if
it's just random.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
I mean, it could be a number of things. Right.
What's been suggested by beagle Hole, who runs ASH I
think he's the chair, is that it feels to him
as if vaping has become less cool. What are you
picking up on that front?

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Well, they're certainly not seeing it as often as we
normally work as we have in the past, I should say,
which is a good thing, and I suspect he's probably right.
I think that it's not talked about as much and
so we're seeing less of it. That said, we've also

(01:17):
changed all sorts of things or in our school, and
I'm sure other schools have done the same, where you know,
you've just reduced created toilet structures that actually are just
individual cubicles so that there are no gathering areas for
the low lives.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Oh, I see, Okay, so this is this is potentially
a policing problem from a policing solution from you guys.
The other thing also is apparently the disposable vapes have
made it really hard for people to be able to
get their hands on a vape. Right there comes a
whole lot more expensive. So are you are you hearing
that at all?

Speaker 2 (01:53):
No, not hearing that. But it could be it's probably
too soon for us to be getting some really good
patterns and that type of behavior. But look, there there's
been a remarkable shift and a decline in vaping and
a decline in conversations about vaping, which is a good thing. Yeah,
it is good.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
I mean, I guess what I'm getting to is that
it seems like maybe a confluence of things. On the
other hand, if we're talking about whether things are cool
having an impact, then what worries me is that apparently
the cigy's are cool again, and so you might see
it an uptick there in the number of kids smoking.
Are you seeing that at all?

Speaker 2 (02:28):
No, not seeing cigarettes on school related things or on campus.
But yet hopefully you're wrong.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
I'm wrong with a lot of things.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Tim.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Thank you very much, man, I really appreciate your insights.
To O'Connor Auckland Grammar head master.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
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