With the alarming rise of teen fentanyl poisoning cases in North Texas, parents and students in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch School District are urging the district to disseminate more information in Spanish and to implement prevention and rehabilitation initiatives to prevent the loss of more students due to this deadly drug.
Dozens of families participated in a caravan before an informational workshop on fentanyl offered by the school district at RL Turner High School. With Narcan, a drug to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, one of the topics discussed at the meeting, parents expressed their desire to have been informed earlier in order to save their children’s lives.
Fentanyl is a highly powerful and addictive synthetic opioid. An amount of the drug so small that it can rest on the tip of a sharp pencil can be deadly. The DEA warns that this drug is often laced in counterfeit pills that resemble other prescription opioids such as Percocet, OxyContin or Xanax.
In response to the parents’ petition, the district officials have committed to send accurate information in Spanish and English and also in other languages like Cantonese. About 55% of the district’s students are Hispanic. As parents demand more information and transparency from the district, they are also taking steps to protect their children at home.
In a recent district meeting, Carrollton-Farmers Branch officials taught parents how to be vigilant of signs that their teens might be tempted to experiment with drugs, while giving information about fentanyl and how to administer Narcan. Despite the information shared in meetings and online, parents still demand more initiatives and resources from the district to keep fentanyl at bay.
While language and cultural differences remain a barrier to receiving information, parents in Carrollton-Farmers Branch School District will continue to demand transparency and prevention initiatives to protect their children from the deadly drug.
