With prescription pain medicine and heroin addiction rising across the nation, and with overdose as the leading cause of death among youth, experts believe it is critical to increase awareness and education of drug use and abuse.
While heroin use among high school students has declined to historical lows, use of the drug among young adults ages 18 to 25 has more than doubled since 2002, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
And some high schools, including Bradford Area High School, are taking proactive measures to educate teens on the dangers of heroin and prescription opioid painkillers.
“A lot of our children and teens see what heroin and other drugs are doing to schools and communities across the country, and there’s an ongoing initiative to fight drug use and abuse,” said Bradford High health and physical education teacher Ashley Eschrich.
Eschrich is one of the four health and physical education teachers at the high school. Among the four, two of them teach a course titled Success 101 to ninth graders, which is a combination of a freshman seminar course, and a ninth grade health course; the other two teach 12th grade health.
“I have been teaching for eight years at BAHS, and have taught an ATOD (Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs) unit every year,” Eschrich said. “For the past two years, however, I have spent a lot more time on the topic of opioids than ever before.”
During the unit, students analyze prevention and intervention strategies in relation to adolescent and adult drug use — including, but not limited to, decision-making/refusal skills, situation avoidance, and goal setting.
“Educating our students as to the dangers of drug use has long been of the utmost importance, but the reality is that our nation is in the midst of an unprecedented opioid epidemic,” Eschrich said. “Rather than emphasizing a more generalized anti-drug approach in class, I have zeroed in on opioids.”
Last spring, the local CVS Pharmacy contacted the Bradford school district and asked if they could come and provide a presentation to students with the facts about prescription drug abuse.
Consequently, a pharmacist volunteered to visit high school health classes of ninth and 12th graders and gave “a powerful presentation,” Eschrich said, which included stories of “real youth” whose lives were “forever changed” by their choice to abuse prescription painkillers.
“Last week I was in touch with them (CVS) again, and they will likely be coming to the school again this year,” she said.
In October, a “powerful” supplement to the curriculum agenda included a presentation by Gary Tennis, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, who spoke about the opioid epidemic, Eschrich said.
“Prior to his presentation, I took a day to assess students’ background knowledge and get a feel for how much my classes, as a whole, knew about the topic,” she explained. “ I was somewhat shocked at the large number of students that were unaware of the serious dangers present with the use of legally prescribed drugs and how unaware they were of the epidemic.”
Unlike illegal drugs, the picture of prescription medications is often painted as being both safe and helpful, leading teens to form inaccurate opinions. Eschrich described how she assigned a reflective essay for the students following the presentation.
In their reflections, Eschrich asked students to include responses to questions like “Describe something that was new or surprising about the topic” and “In your opinion, how do you think we can help our community with this problem?”
To which she said the responses were detailed and served as a positive reflection of what they had learned.
“I was very pleased with their reactions and responses because I could tell that the message got through,” she stated. “With that being said, I am very eager for us to start our ATOD unit this year, because I think that students will be more receptive to the prevention and intervention strategies that we go over in our lessons now that we will have these powerful supplements — Gary Tennis’ presentation along with the CVS presentation — to our lessons to reflect on.”
Elsewhere in the nation, schools are showing students the film, “Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict,” which the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) produced.
And parents can help reinforce the message at home, experts say.
“Parents need to stay in touch with their kids, know who their friends are, watch their habits and be mindful of prescription drugs in the house, since these substances can be unsafe when abused and are often a step on the path to heroin,” said DEA spokesperson and former health and physical education teacher Gerald Rhett.
Because their teens are in high school, parents have to paint very real pictures for them, says Rhett, who was a teacher for more than 20 years and a parent of two.
“The more graphic you are with them and the more truthful you are with them, the more impactful it is to them,” Rhett said. “Trust me. Have the conversation.”
