5 Ways Schools Can Monitor Vaping and Smoking on Campus

Vaping and smoking in schools is posing an ever-increasing problem for school administrators, and it doesn’t seem like the situation will be completely fixed anytime soon. According to the CDC, around 10% of middle and high school students are either smoking or vaping consistently. 

While smoking still poses a threat to students, it’s an often inconvenient and easily noticeable vice that teachers and campus faculty can identify quickly by smell alone. Vaping, however, is much more discreet. Students can (and do) vape during class, and if secretive enough about it, can almost guarantee they won’t be caught. 

While some students may be brazen enough to try this, most will opt for vaping in school bathrooms or otherwise hidden areas, where necessary security blind spots allow students to indulge their nicotine habits in secret. 

The threat this poses to students goes beyond the single kid vaping. Oftentimes, peer pressure can encourage otherwise unaddicted young people to try out vaping and smoking, which can ultimately lead to nicotine addiction. 

Thankfully, the culture surrounding vaping in schools is shifting, if little by little. Many students are beginning to push back against vaping, viewing it as a “trick” played on them by the nicotine industry. In an interview with Stateline, substance use prevention professional Lee Ann Dodge said, “[We’re] starting to see some signs, at least among seniors, that interest in vaping may be fading. In fact, many of them are angry.” 

That’s not just an isolated case either. According to the same study referenced above, nicotine usage has reportedly dropped 4% from 2022 to 2023, which is an encouraging sign that anti-vaping and smoking efforts are working. However, while the signs are promising, it doesn’t mean the vaping epidemic is anywhere near over. Because of this, it’s crucial that schools have ways to enforce anti-vaping and smoking measures to ensure the safety of their students, as well as put a stop to nicotine addiction. 

Below, we’ll cover some of the best ways schools can actively monitor smoking and vaping on campus. 

1. Environmental Sensor Integration

Monitoring safety and prohibited behavior (such as vaping or smoking) in campus bathrooms provides a unique problem for many educational institutes. 

Placing any kind of security camera within a bathroom is an invasion of expected privacy and is illegal, meaning students who want to vape in secret can exploit this necessary blind spot. However, environmental sensors can be a helpful way to monitor vaping or smoking in bathrooms without violating privacy. They can also be a useful addition to a campus security system in general, as vapor and smoke may still prove difficult to pick up on camera, especially in busy hallways and classrooms. 

Alongside vape and smoke detection, many environmental sensors can also pick up on loud noises caused by vandalism or bullying, ensuring another level of school safety, both for the students and the property. 

By integrating a campus security system with an environmental sensor, campuses can get a better understanding of where and when students are vaping by receiving alerts based on the presence of smoke or vapor in the air. Additionally, pairing an environmental sensor in bathrooms with cameras outside of the restroom can provide the needed coverage to catch whoever is responsible for breaking campus conduct policies. 

Video security integration can also help reduce false alarms, as surveillance footage can give school faculty a way to visually verify the alerts they’re receiving from environmental sensors. The combination of these two solutions can create a more complete end-to-end solution for staff to secure their campus. 

2. Remote Mobile Monitoring

The ability to monitor a campus via a surveillance system is a necessary aspect of running an educational institution. However, if that video can’t be accessed remotely when you need it, that surveillance system loses some of its core value. 

Because of this, schools that take advantage of remote mobile monitoring can more capably tackle vaping and smoking while working to mitigate the damage done by nicotine addiction. 

A video solution that provides easy access to surveillance video from any web browser or mobile phone is essential for staff to view video when and where it’s convenient. The right solution should allow school faculty to easily pull up video after an incident to share with other staff or campus security without waiting, wherever they are, and then save a copy of the video to the cloud to securely share via email. 

3. Real-Time Alerts

Remote access to surveillance footage is powerful, but alerts based off pre-set events make that footage even more powerful. 

That’s why another great way schools can monitor vaping and smoking is by taking advantage of a security platform that alerts administrators to suspicious or illegal activity. Environmental sensor alerts can be created to notify school faculty if any vape or smoke is detected so administrators can respond quickly, along with quick access to video from a nearby associated camera so faculty can identify who is in the area. 

4. Video Analytics

Having to actively monitor live or recorded video minute by minute can quickly prove tiresome, even for dedicated campus security staff. It’s difficult to process and retain all the information available, even after 20 minutes of viewing. So, what’s the answer? How can school security personnel review hours or days of footage in seconds? 

The answer comes in the form of video analytics. 

AI-powered video analytics can take massive amounts of footage and identify important moments of interest depending on the analytics available. If a system is equipped with motion analytics, footage that shows motion of any sort can either be identified automatically or highlighted on the security footage timeline. 

If school administrators want information on loitering around campus, video analytic solutions can help them find that information. It’s one of the most convenient ways to take advantage of video surveillance without having to undergo the process of reviewing hours and hours of footage. 

5. Multisensor Cameras

Finally, another great way to keep your campus safe and ensure students aren’t vaping or smoking is with the right cameras. Multisensor cameras, in the right areas, can provide unparalleled coverage and ensure that students aren’t able to take advantage of camera vision blind spots. 

Many multisensor cameras feature multiple internal lenses that stitch together a wide-angle view, meaning large areas such as common areas or lunchrooms don’t suffer from lack of coverage. Campuses can enjoy 360° high-definition coverage with a multisensor camera, as a single device is equal to four single-sensor cameras. 

How OpenEye Can Help Schools Tackle Vaping 

OpenEye understands the challenges that are facing many educational institutions nowadays. 

Our cloud-managed video solution is equipped with all of the necessary tools needed to tackle this epidemic head on. 

Alongside powerful video analytics and a host of integrations, OpenEye Web Services is easy-to-use and offers convenient, remote access that takes the burden off IT by giving end users a streamlined solution. 

If you’re curious to learn more about how OWS can help campuses everywhere, check out our Education Solution Guide. 

Ready to get started with OpenEye Web Services? Book a demo with us now. We’d love to talk more about how we can help you and your educational institution.