On Oct. 31, 2025, the organization Fentanyl Fathers came to South to give a presentation on the dangers of fentanyl and teach the proper use of Narcan. During the presentation, the fathers shared their solemn experiences with fentanyl affecting loved ones.
Every hour, around twelve people die to fentanyl. It takes just an hour or less for as little as a grain of salt’s worth of fentanyl to kill someone. Fentanyl Father’s goal is to provide a warning by sharing how real and dangerous fentanyl is. Kendra Caralis, a history and sociology teacher at South, expected a serious presentation about fentanyl, but she also got an emotional one.
“It was three fathers who lost their children to fentanyl overdoses, and so they shared their stories,” Caralis said. “They shared a video at the beginning that shared a lot of other stories of other people who had lost their kids through fentanyl.”
Fentanyl is not just a highly addictive substance; it is widely seen as the most dangerous drug in the world. Fentanyl, for comparison, is around 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin. South student Nataile Warnick ’28 gained a whole new perspective on the drug.
“You have to take a lot of normal pills to die. When they showed us, it was literally really small, you could barely ever see it in the bottle,” Warnick said. “It was really eye-opening, because you can see just how little you need to be affected with for it to really affect you.”
One of the final topics of the Fentanyl Fathers presentation was Narcan. Narcan is a direct counter to fentanyl when administered. Narcan blocks the points of fentanyl access in the brain, giving time before fentanyl takes effect. Narcan provides the ability for anyone to save a life when on hand.
“I think it’s a very good life skill to have, and just something that everybody should know about, because it could happen to anybody, and it could happen anywhere,” Warrnick said.
In the future, Principal Cindy Parravano may consider having all classes equipped with Narcan, including the staff trained. Currently, only a few staff members, including both vice principals and the school resource officer, know how to administer Narcan.
“We’ve not trained the rest of the staff. They don’t have it’s not in every classroom, so not everybody would need to know how to administer it, so they would be going to that location and administering if needed,” Parravno said.
Even with fentanyl killing more people than ever, Fentanyl Fathers and many other groups are attempting to stop the plague of fentanyl. Every person informed is another person who is safer from making a decision that forever changes their life and everyone around them.
“How much fentanyl has increased the overdoses in the last 15 years, probably something new,” Caralis said. “I think the more Narcan that can be available, absolutely, is a wonderful thing.”
