The latest Ohio Department of Health figures show more than 2,500Ohioansdied of heroin orfentanyloverdoses in 2014. And those number are rising. Exasperated health and law enforcement officials say they cannot arrest or treat Ohio out of this growing crisis. Many believe one of the most viable ways to stem the epidemic is with comprehensive, consistent education in kindergarten through12thgrade.
Nancy Pommerening spent 32 years at what she calls her first career as an elementary school teacher in the Lakewood district. Since retiring, she's spent the last seven years promoting a drug- education program for Northeast Ohio schools. It’s now in more than 15 Northeast Ohio districts and is being considered by others.
Unlike many programs, Pommerening says this one focuses on what drugs do to a person’s body.
Stressing Science in DrugEducation
“Wedon’t want to scare kids because we don’t believe that works anymore. We also don’t want to tell kids ‘Don’t take drugs’ because they don’t listen anyway. This allows kids to learn information about how drugs affect the brain. We follow what’s a very popular public-health model, which is called the theory of reasoned action. If we know something’s bad for us, eventually it’s going to change our attitude about that thing, and eventually change behavior.”
The program was designed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, orNIDA, and is taught in science classes. One of the school districts using the program isAustintowninMahoningCounty.
Austintown is an earlyadapter
“Someimportant things I’ve learned from myNIDAlessons are that movies, ads and magazines make drugs and alcohol seem cool and inviting. But it shocks you to learn what these things actually do to your brain.”
A few days before summer break,Austintownfourth- grader DanicaJuillerat is reading some of her essay about what the class taught her. A counselor at the intermediate school, JeanneSenchak, says they started implementing the program three years ago.
Austintown wants to expand the program
“It’sfunded through aMahoningValley foundation, and we’re trying to educate children on the risks, the scientific risks of using drugs and alcohol, particularly down the road, heroin."
"It is a K-12 program. We’ve implemented it in our K-2 building, and right now we have it in our intermediate building and to some degree in our middle school and high school. And we’re hoping to make it grow and elaborate on the program a little bit.”
As fourth-grader DanicaJuillerat’sessay shows, she now knows drugs can be bad for you, and they’re everywhere.
“Some drugs are legal for adults but illegal for individuals under 21. Your occipital lobe controls your vision. And nicotine is actually a legal drug for 21 and over; I didn’t know that.
As for what she's witnessed first hand, "there’s only a few people that drink alcohol and smoke. My dad, he’s a smoker and so is my aunt Christy. We’re all trying to get them both to stop smoking, well because my dad, he’s in assisted living, he has a stroke a few years ago, we feel like that’s what caused it, smoking.”
Taking lessons to heart
TheNIDAprogram is based on the same method credited with greatly reducing smoking over the past 50 years. Teacher TammyChmelik, who taught it toJuilleratand her classmates, is hopeful they retain the lessons as the years go by.
“I think that’s the key; we’re laying the foundation so that when they do leave our doors and as they get older they’ll remember this, the brain lessons, and they’ll keep that in the back of their minds when they’re making choices."
The program could spread
OhioAttorney General MikeDeWinebelieves drug education is currently too spotty, yet he believes making it mandatory isn’t feasible because of local-control issues. Columbus-area State Rep. Andrew Brenner chairs the House Education Committee. He agrees withDeWine.
“Having it available on the state Board of Education’s website or the Department of Education’s website and then having local schools being able to pull those resources in, I think that’s appropriate.
"And I think that means you might have wide-scale adoption of it without not necessarily mandating that they have to use it.”
More Parents BecomingAddicted
InAustintown, school counselor JeanneSenchaksays more and more students she has contact with are facing drug abuse issues with parents and adult relatives. She hopes the classes these students take will help prevent them from following suit.
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