Fentanyl related deaths have increased over 600% from 2019 to 2023 according to NBC. Students from ages as young as 9 to 18 are an increasing demographic in the abuse of substances.

Teachers and administrators are all worried for students because of fentanyl. In 2022, it was recorded that fentanyl was the cause of 22 weekly deaths in those aged 14 to 18 according to UCLA Health. Administrators like Jill English are staying prepared with a Narcan, a nasal spray to stop an overdose, for students’ safety.

“There was a couple that graduated from Cy-Fair High School,” English said. “Their graduation gift to each other was like let’s both take a pill. They’d never done drugs before. He died and she didn’t, and [the fentanyl] came from the same person.”

Drug abuse has continuously impacted teens with 7,000 deaths in the past four years in Texas. Vaping, pills and substances are becoming more available to the young age groups.

“Social media is a lot of [the pressure towards drug abuse] because [teens constantly] see it on social media,” Assistant Principal CodyWeatherly said.

The highs and lows of drug overdoses and bodily effects start to form from such a young age; this demonstrates fentanyl is more than just a “one time thing” because all it takes is simply one time. It only takes a two-milligram dose to cause the death of an average size adult, according to Riley County Kansas Health department.

“We need to make parents more aware of what’s going on at home so they can watch their kids,” Weatherly said.

Moms in Plano, Texas, Teena Johnson and Jeri Horton have started an awareness program titled “Fentanyl is Forever” to raise awareness of the dangers of fentanyl and its connection to mental health. Programs like these should be spread all around Texas, even the country to help deplete the deaths by fentanyl. With the help of administrators, coaches and most of all parents we can help save the children of Texas.

“It was a beating heart,” Johnson said. “The symbolic beating hearts of their children.”