Published: Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012 / Updated: Monday, Feb. 20, 2012 03:23 PM
Indian Land Middle school students may be expelled for ‘huffing’ on campus
INDIAN LAND --
Two Indian Land Middle School students were suspended last week for inhaling a “gas like substance” in a school bathroom.
Bryan Vaughn, director of transportation and safety for the Lancaster County School District, said the students had a small amount of a type of gasoline similar to that used for hobby or model cars. “Students were seen with the substance in the bathroom and from there it was investigated and there are a couple of instances where we think they were smelling this substance,” Vaughn said. They were suspended for 10 days pending a hearing this week with district officials, when expulsion will be recommended, Vaughn said. The district’s discipline policy requires that the students be recommended for expulsion in cases in which substance abuse is involved.
Inhaling chemicals is often called “huffing” or “sniffing.” According to the Keystone Substance Abuse Services website, more than 1,000 household products can be misused as inhalants. Because the chemicals are breathed into the lungs, they reach the brain quickly and can result in an almost immediate high, the website states. Inhalant use can be addictive, the website said, and can cause problems including seizures, headaches, decreased liver and kidney function, among other side effects.
Jane Alleva, director of the York County All on Board Coalition, said huffing is especially popular among middle school students. It often begins with sniffing markers or glue and advances to household products and aerosol containers.
Inhalant use is typically seen beginning as early as fifth grade, she added.
“There is a significant tie to deaths among children because they don’t know what they are doing and they get poisoned or ill, or they could die,” Alleva said. “They don’t realize it’s dangerous. They get that weird dizziness, that funny feeling, and they think it’s safe.”
“It’s scary because anytime someone is inhaling something you never know how their body will react. We take it seriously,” Vaughn said.
Vaughn said the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office was contacted but “to my knowledge the students have not been charged.”
The students were not using the gas for any purpose beyond huffing it, Vaughn said.
“I’m 100 percent sure there was no intent to destroy anything or catch a fire. It was merely for the purpose of trying, in our opinion and in witnesses’ opinions, they were snorting it to get some kind of high off that,” Vaughn said.
This was an unusual case, Vaughn said. Recently, students attempting to get high more commonly are caught with prescription medications like Ritalin or their parent’s pain medication, he said. “The huffing issue, I’ve been here for 20 years and I can think of maybe one case similar to this. This is not really the norm,” Vaughn said.
The district does have programs in place to teach students the dangers of drugs, including huffing. There is no plan to introduce additional programs or information, Vaughn said, because he believes this was an isolated incident.
Alleva suggests that parents make sure they properly store containers that could be used for huffing.
“Know what you have and know if it is being misused,” she said.
She also suggests talking to children, even as young as third grade, about the dangers of inhalant use.