Every high schooler has been there—just another mandatory assembly, just another boring talk about drugs. You zone out, scroll on Instagram, fall asleep and wait for the bell. But when the Fentanyl Fathers organization came to Brighton High School on Nov. 19, 2025, it wasn’t just another excuse to get out of class. For many students, it was real.
Founded by parents who have lost their children to illegal fentanyl poisoning, the group hit Brighton High School’s seniors with the hard truth: the drug supply is poisoned, and a single counterfeit pill, from Adderall to a Percocet, can kill. This isn’t just a national crisis; it’s a terrifying reality right outside any schools’ doors.
“Personally, I was clueless to the dangers of fentanyl,” senior Ava Marchant said. “The presentation was very eye-opening in that it sought to teach about street pills and the misadvertisement of their legitimacy. I had no clue that fentanyl was as prevalent as a silent killer until attending the presentation.”
Fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that’s 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, is now the leading cause of death for young adults ages 18-45, and the crisis is hitting high schoolers the hardest. The danger hides in plain sight, with drug dealers pressing the drug into fake versions of both prescription and over-the-counter pills and selling them on social media or through a second party.
The U.S. saw a 114% jump in high school-aged overdose deaths between 2019 and 2021. The reality is that many young people who lose their lives believe they are taking a legitimate, less dangerous substance. The Fentanyl Fathers’ mission is simple: stop the next tragedy by making sure adolescents know what’s up. The organization, driven by founders who have experienced unimaginable grief, believe that education, delivered with authenticity, is the only way to save lives.
Beyond the personal stories they shared of losing loved ones to fentanyl poisoning, the presenters from the Fentanyl Fathers armed students with practical knowledge: understanding the danger, including how to spot counterfeit pills and the lethal dose potential, as well as life-saving skills, such as educating students on how to administer Narcan, the overdose-reversing medication.
The emotional impact of the assembly was one of the biggest takeaways for many BHS seniors.
“The part that stood out the most are the real-life sad stories these people are sharing,” senior Ryder Folse said. “I was pretty aware of fentanyl and knew it was dangerous but was unaware of how readily available it was to myself and the people around me.”
Folse added that seeing the pain of the parents made the topic hit much harder than any lecture he had been given before. He was especially moved by “the emotional side of it, seeing the real families,” adding that it was “more impactful and easier to understand” than typical drug education presentations. He said that the school should “absolutely” keep having these talks for future seniors.
Senior Violet Sargus shared a similar sentiment; she said that the presentation made her consider the bigger picture and focused more on how the crisis “can destroy a family.” She was emotionally moved almost to the point of tears.
“I knew it was bad, of course, but I never realized how such a small amount of fentanyl could kill you,” Sargus said. “If something happened to me like that, to my parents… I don’t think I could make the decision to stand on stage and present it.”
