Questions to prompt discussion with students:

Parents and Teachers: View the full VIP Facilitation Guide Here

Elementary School Students (dialogue starters):

Making Safe Choices

• Why is it important for students only to take medicine when it’s given to them by a parent, caregiver, or nurse/doctor? 

Peer Pressure

• What can you do if someone you know online tries to pressure you into talking about drugs? 

Reporting Concerns

• Why is it important to tell a trusted adult about any messages or posts related to illegal drug activity that you see online? 

Middle School Students (dialogue starters):

Fake Pills

• How can someone ingest fentanyl without knowing they’re being exposed to this lethal substance? 

Buyer Beware

• Why would someone go online to buy prescription drugs? 

Supporting Friends

• If you suspect a friend is getting involved with drugs, what can you do to help them?

High School Students (dialogue starters):

If Your Name’s Not on the Bottle…

• What are the dangers of taking drugs that aren’t prescribed to you by a doctor? 

Tragic Outcomes

• The parents in the video who had lost children to fentanyl overdoses said their kids never knew they were taking fentanyl. How can that happen? 

Friends in Trouble

• If you found out one of your friends had gotten involved in drugs, what would you do? 

More resources for parents, students, & educators

• Drugs on Social Media: What Parents & Educators Need to Look Out For
• What is the Chroming Challenge: Understanding the Perils of Inhaling Toxic Chemicals
• TikTok Tranquilizer Challenge: What Parents & Educators Need to Know

Conclusion

Students are digital natives and between screen time at home and screen time at school, they often spend quite a bit of time online. Protecting kids online is more important today than ever before with the risk of online predators, online drug sales, and other dangerous situations that kids have the potential to be exposed to. The most important defense against these online risks is having an ongoing dialogue with students so they understand what red flags they should be looking out for and know what to do if they find themselves in an unsafe situation.