Hello Holly! Thanks for your comment. Yes it is so important that we as parents keep learning and growing with the current stressful times and providing guidance and support for our kids. I personally was surprised, and also not surprised, to hear the statistic by Dr Tim Elmore last week that the current average teen has a stress level equal to that of a psychiatric patient in 1950. I believe the current vaping epidemic is both a cause and a result of high stress amongst our teens of this “Homelander” generation.

Thank you for sharing your valuable insights regarding the new culture of vaping between young adults and teens. As parents, it’s imperative we listen, become educated, and pay attention to our kids, their friends along with their habits and activities so we are aware of when these poor choices creep into their lives. I’m shocked at how quickly this generation has turned to vaping when dealing with stress, plus peer pressure since “everyone” is doing it. No one really knows the long term effects of vaping, but we are seeing popcorn lung all the way to lung transplants in youth and it’s because their bodies can’t handle the chemicals.

Let’s keep this conversation going, it’s important we understand what our kids are facing in today’s “coping and hoping” generation. We can do better and we can do more!