A pre-med student at the Academy for the Arts, Science and Technology in Horry County, decided to take action to end the drug epidemic.
Elor Mayan tells News13, after turning on the news one morning and hearing statistics about the number of overdose deaths in the county, he decided to meet with his principal to see what he could do to help at the high school level.
With the help of teachers, staff and HOSA, the student organization for future health professionals, students at the AAST will participate in a series of activities aimed to educate them about the dangers associated with drug use this week.
“There’s illnesses that can’t really be prevented, but this we can prevent,” Mayan said. “We can educate the public and we can eradicate the whole issue with drugs. There is over 100 people who die everyday from drug overdoses. That’s just ridiculous. There is no reason people should be dying from something that is preventable.”
In addition to educating students about drug prevention, events throughout the week also to teach students about the dangers of drinking and vaping.
A teacher at the AAST tells News13, this is the perfect week to work with students as their prom is this Friday. She also said having this message come from students’ rather than adults, will make a larger impact.
“Some students have that feeling as a teenager that they’re invincible and nothing could ever happen to them but if they can hear their peers talking about and encouraging them not to do drugs, or not to drink, or not to make risky decisions in life, I think that’s more powerful than an adult saying that,” Donna Pavlovic said.
