Vaping detectors in schools

Studies continue to show that vaping is not harmful for our health and that it is not a gateway to tobacco use. However, vaping in public spaces can be forbidden, depending on where you are in the world. In New York, for instance, the city governor Andrew Cuomo has banned the use of electronic cigarettes in all public and private schools since July 2024.

Following this decision, new « vaping detectors » have been installed in schools which are testing the system with the company Digital Fly, which supplies the device. On their website, the young company explains that « everyone should be able to learn in a safe and secure environment » and that « Digital Fly offers a suite of software tools and services to help schools with bullying, cyber-bullying, suicide, self-harm, violence and other potential dangers ». Which includes vaping apparently.

Their detector, which is called Fly Sense, can detect gas and humidity in the air which could indicate that illegal vaping is taking place. « If we get a spike above the line then we know if there’s an incident occurring and we notify the officials », Derek Peterson, Digital Fly CEO explains. But if the information and notifications are not filtered, the school administrations might soon be plagued with false alarms and pranks.

Fly Sense is not only used for vaping prevention: it is also equipped with another sensor that will follow sound level peaks to determine if bullying or fighting is taking place, which in in line with their ambition of protecting the children.