Ohio Elementary School is Feeling the Brunt of the Opioid Epidemic
In 2017, Ohio had the second highest rate of opioid overdose deaths in the country. While heroin remains a huge problem for the people of Ohio, we have seen a shift when it comes to who is being affected by this epidemic. At an Ohio elementary school, they have found that almost half of the students have witnessed drug use at home. These children are struggling to cope with their parent’s addiction, and acting out, worrying about their home life, and being forced into foster care, are all par for the course. One classroom at Minford Elementary is becoming the battleground in the war against addiction, where the next generation is somewhere between being lost and saved.
Hundreds of students enrolled in the local school district have witnessed drug use at home, and are now struggling with behavioral and psychological problems that make it difficult to focus or absorb lessons. The school even hired a teacher to help students learn how to cope with trauma. These new teachers teach several classes a day on coping skills and feelings and meet every week in one-on-one sessions with up to 20 students who have experienced significant trauma. At Minford Elementary, last academic year, four kindergartner students lost parents to fatal overdoses and one had a parent killed in a drug-related homicide.
Earlier this year, Governor Mike DeWine discussed beginning a new student wellness curriculum throughout all of Ohio, including a drug prevention curriculum that focuses on “social and emotional” learning. These exercises would be intended to teach students how to cope with the consequences of the opioid epidemic. In an interview, Governor DeWine said that Ohio recognized that dealing with the crisis required a long-term educational strategy geared toward addressing childhood traumas.
At Midwest Recovery and Detox Center, we are working to make sure children grow up with their parents. You and your children deserve recovery.
