Santa Rosa Junior College Student Health Services and the Students for Recovery club will host “Save the Youth” to memorialize the students who have died of fentanyl overdoses and to promote drug harm reduction awareness at 6 p.m. Aug. 26 in the Bertolini Quad.
Tova Esbit, Student Health Services outreach specialist, and Daniel Lionett, Students For Recovery president, have invited guest speakers, including family members of students who have overdosed, for the event. Local drug rehabilitation and support organizations will provide resources for harm prevention as well.
Esbit said SRJC student Kyle Emerson’s overdose death in June, following multiple high school student overdose deaths earlier this year, inspired the event. She believes these deaths are not isolated incidents, but a result of a community in crisis, which is why she chose the “Prevention Through Connection” theme.
“If the community is aware of the situation, and they know about Narcan and fentanyl testing strips, there’s that much more of a chance that lives will be saved when young people experiment or buy drugs off the street that are laced with fentanyl,” Lionett said.
Another goal for “Save the Youth” is to rid the misconception that harm reduction awareness is to condone drug use. Esbit said the message is for everyone but hopes it will reach parents specifically. Despite the recent overdoses, she believes that community awareness is lacking.
Stigma surrounding substance abuse can prevent parents from providing their kids with proper support upon discovering they are using drugs, Esbit said.
“We need to stop with the shame and guilt. If your kid needs a ride, you don’t also need to give them a lecture,” she said. “We need parents to be more familiar with making their kids feel safe rather than shameful.”
Lionett said the stigma can lead parents into stereotyping what kind of student would use drugs and miss the signs in their own kids.
“These could be high-achieving, athletic stars,” he said. “They’re everyone’s kids that can get stuck in using substances as a coping mechanism and in this day and age, it’s just super dangerous.”
Student Health Services will have free Narcan for attendees and provide information on fentanyl testing strips. Esbit said they plan to have a “memorial tree” for attendees to honor the memory of loved ones they’ve lost to fentanyl overdose by hanging labels with their names on it.
The Northern California slacker rock band ulyssescfm and local Sonoma rapper ANT2FRESH will perform at the event, and organizers will provide food for attendees.
The Bertolini Quad is between the Doyle Library, the SRJC Student Center and Bookstore. Email Esbit at [email protected] for more information.
