Media outlets continue to report on the so-called epidemic that is teen vaping. Even we covered it this year. It seems clandestine vaping in schools has gotten so out of control, a company developed technology to detect and alert school administration of vaping on the premises, among other increasing problems on school grounds.
Vape Detector on Mobile
Soter Technologies recently announced that the 2.5 version of its proprietary detection system is available. First introduced in August, 2017, the Fly SenseTM is already being used throughout municipalities and companies with anti-vaping legislation. School systems in 21 states across the US, and areas of Canada have purchased the incident detection system. Soter excitedly shared its advanced feature set in the new version in a press release this week.
The list of new features, according to Soter’s press release, includes “new state-of-the-art vape sensor technology, a mobile app, status indicator LEDs, alert scheduling features to make monitoring and response easier, and robust analytics based on incident alert history.”
Administrators can receive mobile app alerts when vaping is detected, and get reports about the more frequent “hotspots” for student misconduct, like restrooms and locker rooms. Soter claims the device also listens for “sound anomalies” to detect bullying and fighting on premises.
Surveillance is Important
It is reported that one-in-three teens in the US is bullied. That’s over 3 million adolescents suffering the adverse psychological effects of bullying. In 2017, over 2 million teens also reported using or having used vape products. While there are no prolonged study results of the bodily effects of vaping, legislation in the US has taken a restrictive stance on it, similar to cigarettes. Federally classified as a tobacco product, vapes and vape products are prohibited in a number of public spaces, including school premises.
“We must use both technology-based and education-based tools,” Soter CEO Derek Peterson told the press. The education-based tools so far have come in the form of a $30 million dollar campaign to help prevent youth vaping, recently announced by major vape manufacturer, Juul. “Juuling” is the slang verb teens often use to refer to vaping, as the device is small, easily concealed, and emits almost no odor or vapor. We previously reviewed the Juul, which you can read here.
