A woman shares her shock after discovering that her ex bought their 11-year-old son a vape and allows him to smoke it at his house. In the UK, it is illegal for under-18s to use or purchase e-cigarettes or e-liquids. Despite it being illegal to sell vaping devices to under-18s, research shows a steep rise in underage vaping over the last five years, according to Action on Smoking and Health.
Sharing the horror of finding out her child has been allowed to vape, the woman shared her thoughts on the popular Mumsnet forum to see if she was being unreasonable. She wrote: "My 11-year-[old] DS [dear son] who is in Y7 [year seven], sees his Dad every other weekend. Well, it has come out that his Dad vapes now, which because he is a fully grown adult is fine but what I am so angry about is that my ex has bought DS [dear son] a vape and he regularly vapes when at his Dad's house.
"Should I tell my ex that unless he stops DS [dear son] vaping I cannot send him to his house? What would social services do regarding the situation if [my] ex refuses to do the sensible and right thing, which knowing him is the more likely outcome to happen."
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Many Mumsnet users were also shocked by the dad's actions but some thought that she should get all the facts before reporting her ex. One said: "Does the vape contain nicotine? Not that it would be ok to drag the mist into his lungs even if it didn't, but I think you need to get your facts straight in case you do end up reporting him."
However, many commenters thought the mother was not being unreasonable with her concerns and should act quickly. One said: "YANBU [you are not being unreasonable]. Any adult that allows a child to vape is scummy. Their lungs are still developing so why would any kind of vape, nicotine or not be ok? There’s a massive problem with vaping in schools at the moment and half of the problem is that parents allow them to do it [at] home."
Another added: "I would absolutely not be letting my child go to his house." While another mum suggested: "I would stop contact and let social services know why! That's absolutely awful, 15/16 then although I wouldn't be happy, there's not much you can do but 11 is disgusting."
One woman, who is also a vaper, said: "Absolutely f***ing not. That's utterly appalling and also illegal. I'd report to SS [social services] immediately. Stop contact straight away. This is a safeguarding issue. Nicotine is dangerously addictive as I well know. I vape but I'm 53. At 11 years old who knows what damage that is doing."
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