Recently, a friend of mine noticed a lot of posters about Narcan, a life-saving medication for opioid overdose, around the school we were visiting. This level of awareness had me thinking about how prevalent opioid addiction truly is and the measures schools take to prevent opioid addiction and deaths.
In 2017, a study was conducted through the United Hospital Fund and Boston Consulting Group estimated how “2.2 million children and adolescents had a parent with opioid use disorder (OUD) or had OUD themselves, including 1.4 million children living with parents with OUD, 325,000 children who have been removed from home and live in foster or kinship care due to opioids, and 240,000 children who have had a parent die due to opioids”. The report also stated that approximately 170,000 children had OUD or had accidentally ingested opioids.
The conclusion of this study is that the rate of children affected by the opioid epidemic in 2017 varied significantly from state to state. West Virginia had the highest rate (54 per 1,000 children) and California had the lowest (20 per 1,000). If current trends continue, an estimated 4.3 million children will have had OUD or a parent with OUD by 2030.
With the high risk, the government has tried to urge schools to provide necessities such as Narcan and train staff and students to respond to overdoses.
In 2023, the Department of Education, along with the Biden administration, “launched a surge against illicit fentanyl that included actions to stop the flow of illicit drugs into our communities, expand access to life-saving resources, and prevent drug use before it begins,” which has been proven to be successful.
Along with access to tools like Narcan, schools are distributing research-based guides such as the Preventing Drug Use Among Children from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). This pamphlet provides schools and communities with strategies to strengthen protective factors and reduce substance use risk.
The Department of Education’s National Center on Safe and Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE) offers webinars as part of its Lessons from the Field series, focusing on primary prevention initiatives and the prevention of illicit fentanyl and other substances that help schools develop a safe and supportive drug-free environment.
Other programs, such as the CalRx program and the California Overdose Prevention Network (COPN) allow schools and the community easier access to preventative measures. California is allowed to produce its own version of Narcan with the aim of distributing many of these kits for free to schools, universities, first responders, and community groups. By making these preventative measures free, it ensures that they reach people and places most in need, especially at school.
The opioid epidemic has deeply impacted youth across the nation, exacerbating the crisis even further. To measure the spreading of awareness about preventative measures and easy access to Narcan, thereby creating a safe learning environment for all students.
Government action reflects a recognition that the crisis isn’t just on the streets or the hospitals but also within schools, where a child should feel the safest. Despite preventative measures, it’s a long and hard road with breaking the stigma, limited funding or staff, and mental health struggles are ongoing challenges that make progress of a safe environment harder to achieve.
With the increasing commitment to create preventative measures, there is hope that schools can play a leading role in protecting the next generation from the devastating effects of opioid addiction.
This article was written as part of a program to educate youth and others about Alameda County’s opioid crisis, prevention and treatment options. The program is funded by the Alameda County Behavioral Health Department and the grant is administered by Three Valleys Community Foundation.
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