Every year, a speaker is brought into SPA to conduct a mandatory assembly about the importance of knowing the facts regarding drug use. This year, the chosen speaker was Krista Schaefer.

Schaefer mostly talked about how adolescent drug use can develop especially unhealthy pathways of dependence within the brain and how there’s a fine line between misuse and addiction. Her lecture was met with great applause and followed by a heartfelt message from Susanna Short, the guidance counselor, about how important it was that every single person in the room got the message that drug awareness is so important in high school in order to avoid dependency later in life.

The assembly was widely considered very thoughtful and productive, but it was the case that some students were not so supportive of the ideas that Schaefer put forwards. Students condemned the speech, saying things like it was not her business to discuss personal drug usage and talked about the fact that the comparisons she drew between dangerous synthetic drugs, smoking, and vaping were unrealistic. These criticisms just serve as an example of why SPA still needs to continue discussing drug usage.

Students may believe they are right and that Schaefer doesn’t specifically know the SPA community, but one needs to take into account the fact that Schaefer is a Licensed Alcohol Drug Abuse Counselor (LADC) certified by the state of Minnesota to discuss and analyze cases of drug and alcohol abuse. She has observed countless cases of drugs and alcohol use in the lives of individuals in harmful ways and has helped people through addiction. There are few people that are as qualified as her in discussing the harmful nature of using drugs and alcohol while a teen. Students should not just scoff when they hear her message, as she knows the subjects of what she’s talking about inside and out.

What this minor wave of negative backlash within the student body signifies is that the discussion about drug use needs to be an ongoing discussion, and not a one-time thing. Students that partake in drug and alcohol use will only be persuaded to seek help if they are faced with an overwhelming amount of evidence saying what they’re doing is detrimental to their health. The talk around drug and alcohol misuse and addiction needs to continue beyond a single assembly and into the hallways of the school and the personal lives of students.