12 Anglophone West schools using sensors that detect bathroom vaping

More New Brunswick schools are installing high-tech sensors in their bathrooms to detect student vaping.

Vaping seems to be happening in schools more often, said Darla Day, director of schools for the Fredericton area in the Anglophone West School District. 

It refers to the use of handheld electronic devices such as e-cigarettes to inhale heated aerosol products that often include nicotine or cannabis, propylene glycol, glycerol and other chemicals, according to Health Canada.

Students are vaping in bathrooms, hallways and other common areas, Day said.

Vaping is a little easier to conceal than smoking, she said, and is popular with teens, but it's not a healthy practice or one that school officials promote.

"It's like smoking cigarettes," she said. "It's not permitted, and we don't want it happening."

Day is involved in overseeing the installation of HALO devices in the schools that are asking for them. 

HALO units can detect the difference between vaping and smoking, she said. They can also pick up sounds such as yelling or fighting.

More than 40 HALO detectors have been installed in 12 schools in the Anglophone West district, said Day. Most of them are in high schools, but there are also a couple in middle schools and kindergarten to Grade 12 schools.

Some have had them for a couple of years already and others are asking for them, she said.

Besides the original purpose of curbing vaping, schools are reporting other benefits, said Day.

"It's also reducing the amount of vandalism," she said.

That's because the machine can alert administrators to all sorts of things going on in bathrooms that shouldn't be.

The device detects loud noises, such as banging if something's being destroyed. It can also detect a cry for help, said Day.