MUNROE FALLS: Speakers showed the prevalence of drug abuse on Tuesday afternoon when they asked hundreds of Kimpton Middle School students to stand during a presentation on drug and alcohol addiction.
Ashley Seneko, a volunteer with the Philadelphia-based NOPE Task Force, asked the students to sit if they didn’t know someone who abuses drugs or alcohol.
Only a handful sat.
Then she asked the ones left standing to sit if they haven’t tried to get those people help.
Only a handful remained standing.
The NOPE Task Force’s seminars at the Stow-Munroe Falls middle school Tuesday afternoon and earlier in the day at the high school were the first time the group had spoken to a school outside Pennsylvania. NOPE, which stands for Narcotics Overdose Prevention and Education, has reached more than 100,000 students in the Philadelphia area, and school officials along with Western Reserve Hospital thought it would be a good seminar for local students too.
Drug education for middle and high school students is an important issue to many in Summit County. At last month’s Beacon Journal-sponsored forum about the ongoing heroin epidemic, attendees listed education for young people as one of the best ways to combat addiction and its woes.
The goal of events like Tuesday’s school seminar is to catch drug abuse early and instill an anti-drug message in young people’s minds so they never get started on drugs in the first place. According to Summit County data, about 2 percent of overdose patients at hospitals have been minors so far this year. The data show county residents 25 to 34 are most at risk of overdose, making up more than a third of cases.
Speakers at Tuesday’s seminar took the stage with a backdrop of pictures of young people — ages 13 to 33 — who’ve died across the country of heroin, ecstasy, prescription pills and alcohol overdoses.
Seneko, whose brother died at age 33 from a drug overdose, told the students that alerting an adult about a friend or family member’s drug use is one of the best ways to help.
“Your call could prevent another board behind me,” she said.
Other family members of addicts who have died told their stories to the young audience, too. Throughout the talk, reaction from students varied. Some seemed bored, but many others looked sullen. One boy broke down in tears and had to leave with a guidance counselor.
Marie Datillo said she could relate to students remaining silent about a loved one’s addiction. She grew misty-eyed as she told the students how she decided not to tell a judge that her grandson, 22-year-old Eric Poore, suffered a nonfatal overdose two days before a court hearing.
“I will forever regret not telling anyone that day,” she said.
Poore died of another overdose shortly after the judge freed him.
“He might have been in jail, but at least he’d be alive,” she said.
Tricia Stouch, the mother of 19-year-old Pamela Stouch, said students have to understand their parents might be disappointed or angry — but that’s better than having a dead child.
“I was never ashamed of Pamela,” said Stouch, whose daughter died. “If I would have known what was happening, I would have done anything I could to get her help.”
Perhaps most heart-wrenching was a 911 call played by event coordinator Beth Mingey. In the recording, the mother of 17-year-old Aaron Fuhlbruck cried hysterically after finding him dead of an overdose one morning. The students looked stunned by the recording.
“Can you feel her pain?” Mingey asked once the call was complete. “This is my worst nightmare, and it’s your parents’ worst nightmare too.”
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ngfalcon.