T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Vive 18 motivational speaker Trevor Tripp speaks to Bellaire Middle School students about the dangers of addiction.

BELLAIRE — Belmont County Juvenile Court isn’t blowing smoke when it says vaping is the leading cause of suspensions in Belmont County schools.

“Vaping is out of control. Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it gets worse, and it’s so unhealthy,” Belmont County Juvenile and Probate Court Judge Al Davies said. “It’s just so prevalent in our county with our kids, so we will continue to try and get the word out to try and educate them and do whatever we can to stop the scourge of vaping.”

Concentrated Conduct Adjustment Program director Noah Atkinson added that vaping is a huge issue across the county.

“Roughly over half of the suspensions that our alternative school sees is from vaping,” he said. “We’re around 100 total suspensions, and approximately 50 of those are for vaping. So it’s a huge issue. And hopefully this message can sink in and hopefully we can curb this epidemic.”

In hopes to eradicate the epidemic of not only vaping but addiction as a whole, Belmont County Friends of Juvenile Court invited motivational speaker Trevor Tripp of Vive18, a drug prevention platform, to speak to all public schools in Belmont County.

Tripp spoke with Bellaire Middle School students on Thursday morning about addiction prevention in the youth. He spoke to the children about what they want out of life and tried to get them to get the wheels turning to start thinking about their future.

Tripp said he tries to introduce the students to a concept of shortcuts and skill sets.

“What I pitch to them is that I think drugs are a shortcut that might get you a quick high, where they might feel good and receive instant gratification,” he said, “but ultimately you’re compromising those long term goals that you really want, because those are only achieved by developing skill sets.”

He added that he speaks to the students about vaping, cannabis products, drinking, substance use, partying, and living life sober.

Tripp believes addiction is one of the biggest concerns currently in the country, so he began going into schools and speaking three years ago. He hopes he is able to reach the students, informing them that addiction negatively impacts them, without making them feel judged.

“I could come up here and put my finger in their chest and tell them they’re wrong, but I don’t really think that’s going to sway them necessarily one way or another,” Tripp said. “I think that is only going to build resentment and then secrecy as far as these things.”

He added that if you yell at a kid not to do something, they’re going to more than likely sneak and do it anyway.

“I don’t want to tell them, ‘hey, this is a bad thing or that they’re a bad person for doing them.’

I simply want to give them the information to allow them to make an educated decision for themselves,” he said. “The reality is, sooner or later, somebody’s going to hand them a drink, a vape pen, cigarette or some sort of pill, and they’re going to have a decision at that moment, a decision that their parents, teachers, or I can make for them.”

He added that he believes that the student will make the decision if they want to do try drugs, alcohol, or nicotine and he wants to ensure that they are informed on the dangers they pose.

“If I give them information and facts then allow them to make an educated decision for themselves, I think that’s much more of a long term way of achieving our goals rather than if you just go up there and put your finger in their chest,” Tripp said.

He said many of the students he speaks to come from broken homes and sometimes either their parents are users, or they’ve seen their friends or their family fall into addiction.

Tripp said the main reason for addiction is mental health and feels like turning to drugs, nicotine, or alcohol is their only way to cope.

“Eventually those habits become addictions, and we want to save these kids from addiction by educating them while they’re young,” he said. “I think it’s a very important subject for these kids to discuss and talk about, because a lot of them just don’t know the issues or the threats that addiction poses. They think it’s just a fun, casual activity for them to do, and don’t realize that addiction is right around the corner.”