Fort Worth students learn about the dangers of smoking and vaping

FORT WORTH, Texas - Sixth, seventh and eighth graders at Young Women's Leadership Academy in Fort Worth learned an eye-opening lesson on Wednesday.

Ethan Vieira, a fourth-year med school student from the TCU Burnett School of Medicine, shared the emergency room realities behind vaping.

"I thought the videos were terrifying, like those are very serious problems," said seventh grader Aysha Harris.

The students learned about kids with collapsed lungs, chronic coughing, shortness of breath, even anxiety and depression.

"I try to include a lot of pictures and videos that really show to students what can happen and a lot of it is more common than we realize," Vieira said.

The ages of those affected are becoming disturbingly younger.

"Some people may think they’re too young in middle school to be talking about these types of things, but it’s all over social media. These influencers are getting sponsors from these products, and it’s unfortunate, and they’re sharing it online and they’re making it look cool," Vieira said.

While vaping may not carry the same risk of carcinogens as smoking, the CDC points out it can expose young users to nicotine, along with aerosol chemicals that affect the lungs.

"I was never going to vape or smoke or anything but this took me to another level. Now I want to help people know about this. I want to inspire people to not do this," said student Sophia Mihalik.

The students also learned about how to deal with the peer pressure to smoke and vape.