The Youth Epidemic How park and recreation agencies are helping to fight e-cigarette use among America's teens By Vitisia Paynich " V aping is considered cool in my group of friends, " says one female teen, who was just 13 years old the first time she began vaping. " It might just be the fact that you're doing the things you know you shouldn't be doing. " This high school student represents a mere handful of real California youth who shared their real-life experiences using e-cigarettes and other vaping products for a public service video produced by Tobacco Free California, in an effort to discourage others from following in their footsteps. However, this problem among today's youth is not exclusive to the Golden State or the West Coast. It's a frightening scenario playing out in towns all across America. Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable illness, attributing to more than 480,000 deaths in the United States each year. Research data from the " 2018 National Youth Survey " conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal that e-cigarette use among high school youth rose by an astounding 78 percent from 2017 to 2018, while more than 1 million additional teens began using e-cigarettes in the past year. Acknowledging these startling figures, the U.S. Surgeon General declared vaping a youth epidemic. This nationwide crisis has prompted park agencies across the country to partner with their public health agencies to sound the alarm about youth vaping by educating parents, preteens and teens about the negative W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G | J U N E 2 0 1 9 | Parks & Recreation 45