According to a pupil at Australia’s second-largest Islamic school, vaping in the restrooms is a stepping stone to a life of crime in violent drug gangs.
The anonymous kid made the accusation in a recent address to fellow Malek Fahd pupils during a religious ceremony at the coeducational school, which has more than 2,000 students and is located in Greenacre in Sydney’s southwest.
In regard to the slew of Middle Eastern gangland killings that have wracked Sydney since 2020, the youngster remarked, “We hear Muslims murdering Muslims.”
According to The Daily Telegraph, the student said, “There are three things that the present generation did in their adolescence that have destroyed their future.” The first is behaving like a gang member and normalizing drugs.
The student warned his peers vaping in toilets was the a step towards gang crime (pictured: Malek Fahd Islamic College in Sydney’s southwest)
He said those involved in drug pushing syndicates had all begun with something small ‘like a vape’ and warned that ‘brothers who hide in the bathroom’ attempting to increase their popularity by smoking were on a dangerous path.
Even though considered minor, the student said the behaviour was normalising drugs and rule breaking and that it would have significant consequences down the track.
Similarly, the young Muslim warned his peers that those who watched violent videos online such as of beheadings or torture were also at risk of descending into crime and gang culture because it would desenstise them.
‘I have seen some boys watching some of these videos and finding it funny. They actually find it entertaining, it makes you question their psychological state,’ he said.
While nicotine vapes are illegal in Australia without a prescription, authorities have warned they are easy to find, with manufacturers issuing ‘import at your own risk’ warnings to Australian buyers.
‘We know that amongst many young people, e-cigarettes or vapes have been considered safe and certainly safer than cigarettes,’ NSW Deputy Chief Health Officer Marianne Gale said earlier this year.
The combination of having a sweet or fruity flavour, being in colourful packaging and their ‘vapour’ often perceived as water, people often consider vapes harmless.
‘It’s very important that young people and families understand e-cigarettes are not safe,’ Dr Gale said.
Vaping is surging in popularity particularly among 16 to 24-year-olds but the chemicals are largely unregulated and unstudied (stock image)
The effects of the chemicals in vapes are not fully regulated or studied and their is evidence they can cause throat and lung irritation, heartrate issues, mood swings, and affect memory among others.
Vapes also contained addictive nicotine and vapers have an increased likelihood of taking up cigarette smoking.
The habit has surged in popularity since 2018 especially with school students.
NSW Health estimates one in 10 young people aged from 16 to 24 are vapers, while the NSW education department has seen a 771 per cent increase in reports of vaping to its incident support line.