Addressing drug abuse with education can look different among schools, but often administrators have one goal in mind, according to superintendent Eric Ritzert of Karns City Area School District.

“Each and every school district out there is trying to do the same thing: We want to help our students,” Ritzert said.

From mock crashes to assemblies, clubs and curriculum, several Butler County-based school districts’ superintendents and addiction programming experts are working to implement and make an impact with anti-drug programming for students of all ages.

To an extent, Ritzert said what plagues the world outside of education — including in terms of drug use — is bound to creep into the county’s schools at some level.

“You’re going to see a reflection of society,” Ritzert said.

Ways to mitigate drug use, such as bag checks, metal detectors, vape sensors in bathrooms and the presence of school police officers, are used widely throughout county schools, but leaders of anti-drug initiatives like D.A.R.E., the Reality Tour and curriculum based around positive decision-making say the programs can have a similar effect in keeping drugs out of schools.

Norma Norris, developer of Reality Tour and executive director of CANDLE Inc., said children ages 10 to 17 are able to attend her program, and for good reason.

“They’re at a malleable stage of life; they will take direction,” she said. “They want to please their parents.”

It’s crucial to reach children at young ages, she said.

“We are headed for deadlier and deadlier drugs. Youth systems cannot handle getting a hold of that and ingesting it,” she said of the types of drugs that teens could abuse.

When students encounter addiction, whether personally or in relationship with others, it can have a profoundly negative effect, according to superintendents Mark Gross from Mars Area School District and Alfonso Angelucci from Slippery Rock Area School District.

“It can be crushing to the students ability academically, behaviorally,” Angelucci said. “It has such a trickle down, permeating effect. It’s heartbreaking to see how it affects students’ success.”

“Addiction, at any age, has a ripple effect on many aspects of an addict’s life,” Gross said. “The effects of drug and alcohol addiction can be both short-term and long-term.

“Peaceful, loving homes can be divided by the strain caused by drug and alcohol abuse. Therefore, addiction affects not only the person with the substance abuse disorder, but also everyone around them.”

Ritzert said preventing future drug use can start with educating students about its dangers and consequences.

“The concerted effort about trying to educate them about the negative health effects of vaping is our primary mission,” he said. “We’re trying to have a holistic approach.”

Ritzert said he is always thinking of ways to adapt so students enjoy coming to school and feel safe. Training the staff and administration about what students see in the world is one way to create that environment.

Ritzert said Dr. C. Thomas Brophy, medical director of the Ellen O’Brien Gaiser Center, has given talks to school staff for their education on addiction-related topics. He is hoping Brophy will speak to students in the future as well.

“Sometimes, when you share advice, they don’t necessarily hear it, but take someone with that medical experience and background, they take that more seriously,” he said.

Another way to create a safe environment is educating students on positive decision-making. This can happen through outside programs or curriculum used in every classroom, Ritzert said.

The Positive Action curriculum program runs from kindergarten through sixth grade at Karns City schools and teaches children decision making skills, according to Ritzert.

“We have seen a lot of good come from it; it gets students talking,” he said. “We are better understanding what it is students are being confronted with.”

Ritzert said the district also participates in D.A.R.E. and Stand Tall, a junior and senior high school club that promotes a drug-free lifestyle.

Brian White, Butler Area School District superintendent, said the district’s students in grades seven through 12 also participate in Stand Tall. He described it as a school-based program that allows students to make positive friendships and get involved in the community.

When students encounter addiction in their world, White said, they often need positive influences to stay on the right track. Students involved in clubs and activities could be subject to drug testing, he added. White also said they have tried to point families toward resources like Pyramid, Glade Run, Center for Community Resources and the Ellen O’Brien Gaiser Center.

“Any child who has a family member struggling with addiction has a burden that is not fair to them,” he said. “Unfortunately, many children live through this experience. It is important that they have other family, friends and mentors who can help them be resilient.”

Assemblies are another way to introduce students to facts on drug use. White said Keystone Wellness will hold one this year at Butler about addiction as it pertains to gambling and the dangers of vaping and misuse of prescription drugs.

“Sixty percent of adolescents enrolled in substance abuse programs also meet the criteria for mental illness, so we have speakers from My Choice, VOICe, that come in and talk about mental health and relationships to educate on the underlying cause of mental illness and anxiety, which leads into substance abuse,” White said.

Some assemblies on drug abuse are more hands-on. Gross said Mars Area School District asks local first responders to give a “mock crash” demonstration around prom season to show the dangers of drinking and driving. This involves students playing the crash victims.

Gross said the district also utilizes other systems to promote communication about addictions and substance abuse.

“The district utilizes the Safe to Say system to receive anonymous information relative to any activities that may negatively impact the health, safety and welfare of students,” he said.

Reality Tour is recommended for students to attend with their families outside of school, according to Norris. The districts of Mars and Seneca Valley have encouraged students to attend the program, she said.

Norris said Reality Tour was created in the early 2000s, as heroin started emerging in the community.

“You started seeing deaths of people in their 20s in the paper,” she said.

She remembered hearing a radio interview on a local station where officials said even high school students were experimenting with opioids, and she wanted to create something that would show the consequences of addiction.

“We wanted people to understand what was really happening,” she said. “We try to be innovative. Our goal is to reach as many parents and children as possible.”

By pulling statistics from Monitoring the Future, the Reality Tour program produces scenes and scenarios similar to what people struggling with addiction encounter. The demonstrations include an arrest for drug charges and the aftermath of an overdose in a hospital room and funeral home.

Attendees also hear the testimonies of people who are face to face with these realities, such as law enforcement officers.

What people walk away with is more than awareness, according to Norris.

“People go home with true coping skills as a family,” Norris said. “It gives parents and children the opportunity to discuss this with ease. Now, you’re on the same page when you want to prevent a terrible outcome for your family.”

At the end of the program, Norris said students are asked questions about what they have seen, and if it changes their perspective on drug use.

“One of the questions we ask is, ‘Are you more committed to stay drug free after Reality Tour?’ Seventy-five percent say they are,” she said. “Sixty percent say they think it will be harder to keep their drug-free promise as they get older.”

The acronym D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, and has been around since the 1990s, according to Chief Deputy Harry Callithen with the sheriff’s office, who helps organize the program in Butler County.

He said D.A.R.E. is taught by a uniformed law enforcement officer and has curriculum available for students from kindergarten through high school. His officers teach the fifth-grade curriculum most, he said, which focuses on the dangers of tobacco and alcohol.

“I really like the curriculum right now. I think it delivers a good message,” Callithen said.

That message, and the bulk of the lessons, involve the use of good decision-making skills when dealing with peer pressure, overcoming stress and bullying.

Earlier this month, fifth-grade students in Mars Area School District graduated from the program. Callithen said he thinks the 45-minute lessons have a positive impact on the students.

“I think it’s a relevant program because it focuses on the decision-making skills. They know this stuff is bad for them. They need to know it’s OK to say ‘no,’” he said. “If you can make better decisions out of the gate, I think that’s the biggest impact.”

Fifth-grade students are at an impressionable age, according to Callithen, which should help them retain the knowledge they learn and use it as they grow.

“Even adults can apply this in their own lives,” he said.