SEATTLE — As kids head back to the classroom, health leaders say it’s a great time to talk to your kids about drugs before they’re offered.
KIRO 7 Anchor Aaron Wright sat down with the top doctor at Seattle Children’s to outline the danger our students are up against.
Doctor Leslie Walker-Harding, Seattle Children’s Senior Vice President, explained that there’s an important lesson we all need to brush up on – doing the work to stop drug overdoses in the home.
“At a certain age, they’re going to put just about anything in their mouth, and really giving education not to do that, not to have things out, to have them in a space locked up if possible, but really in a space where kids cannot access them,” said Dr. Walker-Harding.
Doctor Walker Harding believes that advice applies to all school-age children, and the data backs her up.
In April, Everett Police warned the community after responding to three overdose calls in just one week. One of those children did not survive.
A 2023 analysis of adolescent overdose cases is grim. The numbers reveal that boys are more likely than girls to die from an overdose, making up almost 70% of deaths.
Fentanyl is a root cause in many of the overdose deaths – it’s involved in 84% of fatal overdoses.
It’s not all bad news. For the first time in five years, national trends show a decline in overdose deaths. King County’s numbers are even better – a 15% drop in fatal overdoses and a 20% drop in overdoses involving fentanyl.
Dr. Walker-Harding believes it starts with parents, educating and communicating to children why they need to say no to drugs, and finding the right, age-appropriate words to tell them about the danger.
“Because if a parent doesn’t say anything... when they get old enough, that means that it’s okay. Kids perceive things differently than adults. I’ve had many kids in my practice say, well, it’s okay because my parent never said I shouldn’t do it,” said Dr. Walker-Harding.
In this fight against overdose deaths, everyone has a role to play. Dr. Walker-Harding believes everyone should have Narcan in the house.
“Sometimes people say, well, they’re too young, you know? No, they’re not too young to learn how to save somebody,” said Dr. Walker-Harding.
When asked if we’re making progress in the fight against opioids, Dr. Walker-Harding was optimistic, “It’s a lot better than it was, I would say, even a decade ago. But we have a long way to go. Somewhere along the way, in our country, we separated substance use from health. And so now we’re bringing it back into the health arena.”
Seattle Children’s has a number of resources available on their website to help you facilitate the conversation with your family. You can find them here.