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There typically isn’t much action at Springbrook High School on Saturdays, but this weekend was an exception, as parents and students flocked to the school to learn more about the challenges kids face involving mental health and substance use.

“This is a family forum that’s been opened up to the community and all of the surrounding schools to invite parents and families to learn about mental health and substance use prevention, and how to have those conversations with your children and … family members, and also how to recognize signs of substance use,” said Leslie West-Bushby, president of the Parent Teachers Student Association at Springbrook High School in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Health agencies, law enforcement and student groups shared information at the forum conducted in the school’s gym, auditorium and in the hallways.

“We’ve had about 2,000 (fatal) overdoses in the state in the last year and Montgomery County has had over 100. So we’re lower per capita than most of the rest of the state, but fentanyl is now the leading cause of death in the United States for people 18 to 49,” said Phil Andrews, director of crime prevention for the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office. “Fentanyl is 50 times as powerful as heroin and 100 times as strong as morphine, and people have trouble appreciating how deadly it is.”

Students provided Narcan training at the forum, instructing individuals on how to administer the nasal spray to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

“We distribute Narcan kits, we go through the steps of what to do when you think somebody’s overdosed,” said Amy Ye, a student at Richard Montgomery High School and a member of the Youth Ambassadors Program, a student group focused on substance use prevention, suicide prevention and mental health wellness.

“This is an extremely serious problem,” said Maggie Holtry, a student at Covenant Life School and a member of the Youth Ambassadors Program. “If you’ve gone to any public school you understand the risk of people overdosing right in front of you.”

Besides leading Narcan training, the students also distributed information to forum participants.

“It’s about educating our parents as well as our student body about knowing the resources in preventing substance use,” said Vicky Kaprielian, a student at Winston Churchill High School and a member of the Youth Ambassadors Program.

Forum leaders said it’s critical that parents discuss with children the dangers of drugs.

“Do not assume that your child will never use drugs or drink alcohol,” West-Bushby said.

The students themselves said they believe they are in the best position to help their fellow students avoid the dangers.

“Our main advantage in combating this problem is the fact that we are young people ourselves. People are going to listen to their peers,” Holtry said.

Among the kids working to combat the scourge of drugs were members of the student-formed group called Maryland Students Against Drugs, who eagerly shared information from their homemade display featuring a map of drug overdoses in the states.

“We saw the problem going on in our school, where people were overdosing in our school. And it’s not just our school … so we made this organization to help students know that they’re not alone, and to teach them about Narcan to reverse the effects of drugs,” said Kaitlyn Hoang, a student at Clarksburg High School and a co-founder of Maryland Students Against Drugs.

“Students are struggling from family problems, academic problems and a lot of the times they turn to drugs which is something that we don’t want to happen,” said Grace Chee, a student at Neelsville Middle School and a member of Maryland Students Against Drugs. “If we try hard and continue to do what we’re doing now, we have a very high chance of making a big difference in our community.”

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