Some more "old-fashioned" high school misconducts are now going out of style with fighting, premarital sexual activity, underage drinking, and smoking now becoming less popular. However, wrongdoings such as texting while driving as well as the use of e-cigarettes is on the rise, says the CDC.
Business Insider reports that an all time low amount of high school students who participated in the CDC's National Youth Risk Behavior Survey says they smoke cigarettes. At 11%, this is the lowest it has been since the survey started way back in 1991.
Despite this positive turn of events, the amount of high school students who said that they have used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days is relatively high at around 24%. Although they are said to be much safer than cigarettes, e-cigarettes or "vapes" are still a major area of concern due to the fact that they contain the addictive substance nicotine.
Inverse reports that the CDC will continue to crack down on high school tobacco and e-cigarette use in order to eliminate all forms of nicotine use on high school campuses. Nancy Brown, the CEO of the American Heart Association released a statement saying "vaping has become so prevalent among U.S. high school students that it's graduated to 'risky behavior' status."
In response to the growing popularity of e-cigarettes among high school students, the United States Food and Drug Administration has extended its authority over nicotine-based products to include "vapes." They have also set rules banning the sale of these types of products to those who are still considered as minors in their respective jurisdictions.
The survey conducted by the CDC also found that high school students are still big fans of smartphone use. Statistics show that they are now as glued or even more glued to their phone screens as they were compared to the same time last year.
