Have parents, teachers or other adults in your life ever talked to you about drugs?
What did they say to you? What questions did they ask? What questions did you ask?
Were the discussions helpful? Or did they leave you feeling like adults are clueless about how the drug world works?
In the Opinion essay “How to Talk to Kids About Drugs in the Age of Fentanyl,” Maia Szalavitz makes the case for the most effective drug prevention approaches:
In September, two 15-year-old Los Angeles girls overdosed on fentanyl, one of them fatally, after they purchased what they thought were prescription opioid pills. Although most overdose deaths occur among adults, teen opioid fatalities have doubled in recent years, even as opioid use among adolescents has plummeted.
In the age of fentanyl and other illegally manufactured synthetics, the danger associated with trying drugs is greater than ever. If these girls had each swallowed a single Percocet — what they thought they were buying — even the highest-dose pill is unlikely to have been fatal. Street fentanyl and its derivatives, however, can be dozens to thousands of times stronger than the oxycodone in Percocet. Street synthetics are typically found in drugs sold as heroin or prescription pills, but they are sometimes present in party drugs like cocaine. This has exponentially increased the risk of even one or two youthful experiments. But in a country where teens are bombarded with exaggerated scare stories about all types of substances — fentanyl very much included — how can drug prevention programs cut through the noise to get their attention? Two key themes emerge in effective approaches. One is that reaching adolescents requires earning trust by being truthful, rather than simply trying to instill fear. The second is that school-based programs must recognize that not all drug use can be prevented. Instead of focusing only on abstinence, they aim to prevent the highest-risk behaviors and address the personal and environmental factors most likely to lead to addiction. Some argue that teaching anything beyond “Just say no” condones drug use and that sharing ways to reduce risk only encourages teens to get high. But as with the debate over sex education, there is little evidence that providing accurate information in an appropriate context increases problematic behavior. Given the toxicity of the drug supply, we must protect young lives by targeting the factors that cause the most harm. Popular 20th-century drug programs — like DARE and Just Say No — tried to frighten teens away from illegal drugs with exaggerated horror stories, despite research showing that fear tactics are ineffective in changing adolescent behavior.
Today there is a greater recognition of the need for accuracy over hype. New videos and radio spots from the Ad Council, which has been making public service announcements for the government and nonprofits since the 1940s, confront the dangerous new reality directly. They feature former drug dealers — not cops — speaking plainly about fentanyl. They also provide information on how to reverse overdoses with the opioid antidote, naloxone. “I think we have to be really honest,” said Dr. Ayana Jordan, an associate professor of psychiatry and population health at New York University Grossman School of Medicine. Absurd stories about multicolored rainbow fentanyl pills designed to tempt elementary schoolers or handed out as Halloween candy (they’re colored mainly for branding purposes) can make teenagers think that adults are clueless about how the drug world works.
Students, read the entire article, then tell us: What is your reaction to the author’s argument? Do you agree that the best way for adults to talk to kids about drugs is to have honest and accurate conversations, rather than using scare tactics? Why or why not? Did any of the information in the article surprise you, such as that most teenagers abstain from illegal drugs? What questions do you still have about drugs and teenage drug use? The author writes that in the age of fentanyl, “the danger associated with trying drugs is greater than ever.” Were you aware of how rampant fentanyl is? How does this statement make you feel about experimenting with drugs? How have parents, teachers or other adults in your life talked to you about drugs, if at all? Were you able to have an open and honest dialogue about drug use? How have these conversations shaped your views on drugs? How do you think adults should talk to teenagers about drugs and make them aware about it? Did any of the approaches mentioned in the article, including focusing on harm reduction and talking about mental health, seem effective to you? Or do you think adults should only stress drug abstinence? Do you have other ideas? Rhana Hashemi, who has helped try out an evidence-based program called Safety First in the Bay Area, says teenagers are more likely to listen when they recognize they are given accurate information about genuine dangers. Does this ring true for you? Why or why not? Can you think of a time when an adult had an honest conversation like this with you, whether about drugs or something else? I think parents should be open to educating their children about drug use, most people will end up experimenting at some point in their lives and should do so safely. It is better for them to understand how to safely use drugs than to risk their health and well being. I understand that it is a touchy subject and that most parents wouldn’t want their children anywhere near a new substance, but in reality it’s about inevitable that their kids will poke around with drug use. Therefore it is important that they are educated on how to safely and properly use drugs if they chose to do so in the future.
Were the discussions helpful? Or did they leave you feeling like adults are clueless about how the drug world works?
In the Opinion essay “How to Talk to Kids About Drugs in the Age of Fentanyl,” Maia Szalavitz makes the case for the most effective drug prevention approaches:
In September, two 15-year-old Los Angeles girls overdosed on fentanyl, one of them fatally, after they purchased what they thought were prescription opioid pills. Although most overdose deaths occur among adults, teen opioid fatalities have doubled in recent years, even as opioid use among adolescents has plummeted.
In the age of fentanyl and other illegally manufactured synthetics, the danger associated with trying drugs is greater than ever. If these girls had each swallowed a single Percocet — what they thought they were buying — even the highest-dose pill is unlikely to have been fatal. Street fentanyl and its derivatives, however, can be dozens to thousands of times stronger than the oxycodone in Percocet. Street synthetics are typically found in drugs sold as heroin or prescription pills, but they are sometimes present in party drugs like cocaine. This has exponentially increased the risk of even one or two youthful experiments. But in a country where teens are bombarded with exaggerated scare stories about all types of substances — fentanyl very much included — how can drug prevention programs cut through the noise to get their attention? Two key themes emerge in effective approaches. One is that reaching adolescents requires earning trust by being truthful, rather than simply trying to instill fear. The second is that school-based programs must recognize that not all drug use can be prevented. Instead of focusing only on abstinence, they aim to prevent the highest-risk behaviors and address the personal and environmental factors most likely to lead to addiction. Some argue that teaching anything beyond “Just say no” condones drug use and that sharing ways to reduce risk only encourages teens to get high. But as with the debate over sex education, there is little evidence that providing accurate information in an appropriate context increases problematic behavior. Given the toxicity of the drug supply, we must protect young lives by targeting the factors that cause the most harm. Popular 20th-century drug programs — like DARE and Just Say No — tried to frighten teens away from illegal drugs with exaggerated horror stories, despite research showing that fear tactics are ineffective in changing adolescent behavior.
Today there is a greater recognition of the need for accuracy over hype. New videos and radio spots from the Ad Council, which has been making public service announcements for the government and nonprofits since the 1940s, confront the dangerous new reality directly. They feature former drug dealers — not cops — speaking plainly about fentanyl. They also provide information on how to reverse overdoses with the opioid antidote, naloxone. “I think we have to be really honest,” said Dr. Ayana Jordan, an associate professor of psychiatry and population health at New York University Grossman School of Medicine. Absurd stories about multicolored rainbow fentanyl pills designed to tempt elementary schoolers or handed out as Halloween candy (they’re colored mainly for branding purposes) can make teenagers think that adults are clueless about how the drug world works.
Students, read the entire article, then tell us: What is your reaction to the author’s argument? Do you agree that the best way for adults to talk to kids about drugs is to have honest and accurate conversations, rather than using scare tactics? Why or why not? Did any of the information in the article surprise you, such as that most teenagers abstain from illegal drugs? What questions do you still have about drugs and teenage drug use? The author writes that in the age of fentanyl, “the danger associated with trying drugs is greater than ever.” Were you aware of how rampant fentanyl is? How does this statement make you feel about experimenting with drugs? How have parents, teachers or other adults in your life talked to you about drugs, if at all? Were you able to have an open and honest dialogue about drug use? How have these conversations shaped your views on drugs? How do you think adults should talk to teenagers about drugs and make them aware about it? Did any of the approaches mentioned in the article, including focusing on harm reduction and talking about mental health, seem effective to you? Or do you think adults should only stress drug abstinence? Do you have other ideas? Rhana Hashemi, who has helped try out an evidence-based program called Safety First in the Bay Area, says teenagers are more likely to listen when they recognize they are given accurate information about genuine dangers. Does this ring true for you? Why or why not? Can you think of a time when an adult had an honest conversation like this with you, whether about drugs or something else? I think parents should be open to educating their children about drug use, most people will end up experimenting at some point in their lives and should do so safely. It is better for them to understand how to safely use drugs than to risk their health and well being. I understand that it is a touchy subject and that most parents wouldn’t want their children anywhere near a new substance, but in reality it’s about inevitable that their kids will poke around with drug use. Therefore it is important that they are educated on how to safely and properly use drugs if they chose to do so in the future.
