Keen on combatting in-school substance abuse, Principal Samuel Wynkoop sat down with the Griffin staff to discuss student well-being and curtailing drug use.

Wynkoop hopes to stress a focus on parental involvement in combatting drug use and health awareness.

“I would like to address the conversation with the PTA. If the last time they had that discussion was when they were in eighth grade, then that’s a problem,” Wynkoop said.

Yet the message of well-being regarding drug use is not one Wynkoop believes should be confined to the health class room.

“The same messages in that one semester of health should be universal; it should be in AP Economics, standard bio, perhaps those messages need to be more congruent and not just a health class issue but a student issue,” Wynkoop said.

This universal application of the message against drugs is reinforced in the early ages of education through the Drug Abuse Resistance Education, DARE, but in high school, where the problem truly lies, there’s a drop in program enforcement.

“I hope that the message resonates with them from year 8 to year 80. Is it an issue of redundancy…for example, the DARE program takes place in elementary school why doesn’t it take place in high school?” Wynkoop said.

To further his message on student wellness Wynkoop recognizes the value in peer to peer conversation. This past October, a guest speaker spoke at senior breakfast, relaying her experience with drug addiction and her message for students.

Wynkoop hopes to continue the incorporation of guest speakers in the fight against drug use.

“A guy standing up in front of students with a tie has much less effect as opposed to someone who has experienced and can tell their reason with it,” Wynkoop said.

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