Substitute teacher ‘trying to fit in’ shares vape pen with 7th grader, Florida cops say

A substitute teacher at a Florida middle school let a student try her vape pen in class and told the principal she was “just trying to fit in,” according to police.

The substitute teacher, who is 50 years old, no longer works for the Lake County School District, a spokeswoman for the district told McClatchy News.

The woman, who was filling in at Eustis Middle School on May 2, let a seventh-grade student “take a hit” off her vape pen after the student made a remark in class about wanting to try one, according to an arrest affidavit from the Eustis Police Department.

She then told the student not to tell anyone else because she “did want to get in trouble,” the affidavit says.

The school’s principal later confronted her about what happened, and she told him that she was “just trying to fit in,” according to the affidavit.

Officers with the Eustis Police Department arrested her just before 6 p.m. on May 5, according to Lake County jail records. She was charged with one count of child abuse and released on a $1,000 bond.

Eustis Police Chief Craig Capri told WESH that the substitute should not have done what she did.

“She has a responsibility to that classroom to protect kids,” he told the outlet. “Not abuse them.”

Vapes, which are also known as e-cigarretes, contain nicotine, which is “highly addictive” and can damage brain development in adolescents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaping products have also been associated with lung injuries, according to the agency.

E-cigarettes are the most common type of tobacco product used by youth in the United States, according to the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey. More than 2.5 million middle and high school students use e-cigarettes.

Eustis is about 40 miles northwest of Orlando. Eustis Middle School has 837 students and serves grades 6-8, according to U.S. News and World Report.

This story was originally published May 9, 2023 at 11:30 AM with the headline "Substitute teacher ‘trying to fit in’ shares vape pen with 7th grader, Florida cops say."