13-year-old girl caught with vape at school, parents find out tutor bought it for her: 'My kid told us everything'
A woman allegedly bought vapes for a 13-year-old girl she was tutoring.
Stomper NM, who is the student's parent, found out about it only after his daughter was caught with a vape in school.
"My kid's Chinese tuition teacher bought vapes for my kid because my kid was curious and asked her to buy," recounted the Stomper, who said the tutor had been teaching his daughter for a year.
"On May 21, the school caught her with a vape and when we went down to the school, my kid told us everything."
The Stomper shared screenshots of the messages about the purchase of the vapes between his daughter and the tutor.
The parent informed the tutor's agency, SmileTutor, who apologised for the situation.
The agency messaged the Stomper: "It's important to clarify that we were not made aware of this situation until you brought it to our attention. Until your report, the behavior of the tutor had not been flagged, and we were not informed of any inappropriate actions.
"As soon as we were made aware, we immediately took the necessary steps to investigate and address the matter.
"Following our review, we have concluded that the tutor's actions were completely unacceptable and contrary to the values we uphold as an organisation. We have taken immediate action to remove the tutor from our database, and they will no longer be part of our agency."
In response to a Stomp query, SmileTutor said: "We have been alerted on this matter by the parent as well and have done the necessary actions required from our agency as a precaution for other students.
"However, we will not be able to give further statement relating to this matter as what happened during the class outside of our agency after a year is also out of our reach. Hope we were of more help on this matter."
On May 26, the Stomper said the Health Science Authority (HSA) spoke to him about the case.
An HSA spokesperson told Stomp the agency is investigating the case.
It is an offence under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act to import, distribute, sell or offer for sale e-vaporisers and their components.
Any person convicted of an offence is liable to a fine of up to $10,000, or imprisonment of up to six months or both for the first offence, and a fine of up to $20,000, or imprisonment of up to 12 months or both for the second or subsequent offence.
