Search
Close this search box.

High school students push for fentanyl education in Okaloosa Schools  

Three local high school students made an impassioned plea to the Okaloosa County School Board on Monday, urging officials to implement fentanyl education in schools.  “In 2021, there were more than 106,000 drug related deaths. 68% of those deaths were caused by fentanyl,” said Harnett, a Crestview resident and local student. “It kills within 5 minutes, […]

Declan Harnett, Genesis Jimenez Chavez, and William Kiker, representing the non-profit organization Not Even Once (NEO), talked of the dangers of the synthetic opioid fentanyl and the lack of awareness among their peers. (Okaloosa School Board Meeting)

Three local high school students made an impassioned plea to the Okaloosa County School Board on Monday, urging officials to implement fentanyl education in schools. 

  • Declan Harnett, Genesis Jimenez Chavez, and William Kiker, representing the non-profit organization Not Even Once (NEO), talked of the dangers of the synthetic opioid fentanyl and the lack of awareness among their peers. 

“In 2021, there were more than 106,000 drug related deaths. 68% of those deaths were caused by fentanyl,” said Harnett, a Crestview resident and local student. “It kills within 5 minutes, and it’s unable to be seen.” 

Harnett noted fentanyl’s potency – just the size of a pen tip can be lethal. It’s often mixed with other illicit and prescription drugs unbeknownst to users. 

  • “It can sneak up on you, and be found in things like Xanax, Adderall, nasal sprays, small candies, vapes…it’s in everything,” Harnett said. 

Chavez, also of Crestview, cited local statistics from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office showing around 40 fentanyl-related overdoses in the county in both 2021 and 2022 so far. She said Florida’s 1st Congressional District has the highest per capita fentanyl overdose deaths as of 2023. 

“Today we stand before you terrified for our youth,” Chavez told the board. “Our teens are being killed by counterfeit pills distributed on apps like Snapchat that are indistinguishable for even Drug Enforcement Administration agents.”

Kiker focused his remarks on solutions, specifically NEO’s in-school assemblies that educate students about fentanyl. He asked for a meeting with Superintendent Marcus Chambers to discuss bringing the 20-minute interactive assemblies to Okaloosa schools.

  • “If you ask the average student in Okaloosa County schools, ‘What is fentanyl?’ They’ll say, ‘I have no idea.’ That is a failure on our part to educate students,” Kiker said. 

In response, Superintendent Marcus Chambers and the School Board commended the students for their advocacy and Chambers agreed to meet with them. 

“I think we all know fentanyl is something we take seriously,” Chambers said, referencing previous fentanyl presentations to the board. “It’s always great when we can get student voices on something this important.”

The NEO students said they hope increased education will prevent experimental pill use among their peers. “Our mission is to inform students about lethal fentanyl so that they never experiment with pills, not even once,” Chavez told the board.

One Response

  1. I am a parent of a drug addicted adult son. The youth of today are heavy on my heart. These students are courageous in asking for help and education. Any updates on this subject?

Join the conversation...

Continue reading 👇

Community Comments

“Would be nice to hear Matt Gaetz addressing his District 1 voters he left in dust. Unless I missed it somehow.”
Respond
“The Big U! The NMU supplied the unlicensed crew and when we lost this ship and its jobs and when U.S. Lines went bankrupt, we were on our way to...”
Respond
“Highschool is finna be more crowed now. We need another highschool not a middle or elementary school.”
Respond
“This is bittersweet. I spent a wonderful week in Cay Sal Banks on the Pilot in 2006. I will have to go pay her a visit soon....”
Respond
“I agree with Jerome. What will this accomplish since both ends are only 4 lanes?”
Respond
“The parking lot at McGuires would disappear along with the parcel that Destin purchased at the bridge.. Flooding on Okaloosa Island would close an expensive update to 98 , at...”
Respond
“This will not make a difference for traffic passing through the center of Destin along Rt. 98. The smart option is to complete the Brooks Bridge and intersection in Ft...”
Respond
“Doesn’t it still end up with 4 lanes on either end after bridges? Seems more aesthetic than a traffic plan. Which is nice too but does it increase the function?”
Respond
“It would be a money pit let’s sink it for the tourists who we don’t have enough of so more will come”
Respond