I am personally attending one tonight in the SF Bay Area. (Watch our new trailer here.)
I have only watched a couple of movies recently because things have been so busy with finishing our new film. I was shocked that in two of the last films I watched, the characters take MDMA — also known as Molly and Ecstasy. I remember watching parts of the original White Lotus series last year, and the teen girls in the show take many drugs, including snorting ketamine. And there’s Euphoria…
When I was growing up, we never had this level of exposure in shows to hard drugs like our kids do today. We also did not have fentanyl. This human-made opioid is an extremely dangerous substance because the tiniest amount can be lethal. Because it is so potent, people who make drugs to sell know they can just add a small amount to a binder, and voila, they have a drug to sell — and they don’t say it has fentanyl, often just telling their customers it is Oxycodone or Ativan, etc.
In Screenagers Under The Influence, we examine the scary reality that people use apps, such as Discord and Snapchat, to reach young people in the hopes of selling them drugs. They might advertise they are selling Oxycodone, Ativan, or some other substance. The buyer has no idea that many of these are not what the sellers claim but instead are fake/counterfeit pills and that part of what they have in them is fentanyl.
Learn more about showing our movies in your school or community!
Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
Learn more about our Screen-Free Sleep campaign at the website!
Our movie made for parents and educators of younger kids
Learn more about showing our movies in your school or community!
In our new movie, you see a shocking moment when you see two grains of fentanyl, and the expert explains that it is enough to kill two people.
Many college students I talk with tell me their peers use test kits to test drugs for fentanyl. Some even bring Narcan with them to parties or concerts for extra insurance. Ingestion of opioids carries the risk of suppressing respirations so profoundly that a person can die, and Narcan if given in time, prevents opioids from doing this.
Last week, Narcan became available for over-the-counter purchase. It no longer needs a prescription. It is a very safe medicine; having it more widely available is important.
My son, Chase, who is in college, was devastated when in his sophomore year, a student he knew died from an opioid overdose. He and other students petitioned the college to have Narcan available throughout the campus. Sadly, the college said no. Chase and some other students then found an organization in town that showed them how to use Narcan and gave them some.
Learn more about showing our movies in your school or community!
Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
Learn more about our Screen-Free Sleep campaign at the website!
Our movie made for parents and educators of younger kids
Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
As we’re about to celebrate 10 years of Screenagers, we want to hear what’s been most helpful and what you’d like to see next.
Please click here to share your thoughts with us in our community survey. It only takes 5–10 minutes, and everyone who completes it will be entered to win one of five $50 Amazon vouchers.
I am personally attending one tonight in the SF Bay Area. (Watch our new trailer here.)
I have only watched a couple of movies recently because things have been so busy with finishing our new film. I was shocked that in two of the last films I watched, the characters take MDMA — also known as Molly and Ecstasy. I remember watching parts of the original White Lotus series last year, and the teen girls in the show take many drugs, including snorting ketamine. And there’s Euphoria…
When I was growing up, we never had this level of exposure in shows to hard drugs like our kids do today. We also did not have fentanyl. This human-made opioid is an extremely dangerous substance because the tiniest amount can be lethal. Because it is so potent, people who make drugs to sell know they can just add a small amount to a binder, and voila, they have a drug to sell — and they don’t say it has fentanyl, often just telling their customers it is Oxycodone or Ativan, etc.
In Screenagers Under The Influence, we examine the scary reality that people use apps, such as Discord and Snapchat, to reach young people in the hopes of selling them drugs. They might advertise they are selling Oxycodone, Ativan, or some other substance. The buyer has no idea that many of these are not what the sellers claim but instead are fake/counterfeit pills and that part of what they have in them is fentanyl.
In our new movie, you see a shocking moment when you see two grains of fentanyl, and the expert explains that it is enough to kill two people.
Many college students I talk with tell me their peers use test kits to test drugs for fentanyl. Some even bring Narcan with them to parties or concerts for extra insurance. Ingestion of opioids carries the risk of suppressing respirations so profoundly that a person can die, and Narcan if given in time, prevents opioids from doing this.
Last week, Narcan became available for over-the-counter purchase. It no longer needs a prescription. It is a very safe medicine; having it more widely available is important.
My son, Chase, who is in college, was devastated when in his sophomore year, a student he knew died from an opioid overdose. He and other students petitioned the college to have Narcan available throughout the campus. Sadly, the college said no. Chase and some other students then found an organization in town that showed them how to use Narcan and gave them some.
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I am personally attending one tonight in the SF Bay Area. (Watch our new trailer here.)
I have only watched a couple of movies recently because things have been so busy with finishing our new film. I was shocked that in two of the last films I watched, the characters take MDMA — also known as Molly and Ecstasy. I remember watching parts of the original White Lotus series last year, and the teen girls in the show take many drugs, including snorting ketamine. And there’s Euphoria…
When I was growing up, we never had this level of exposure in shows to hard drugs like our kids do today. We also did not have fentanyl. This human-made opioid is an extremely dangerous substance because the tiniest amount can be lethal. Because it is so potent, people who make drugs to sell know they can just add a small amount to a binder, and voila, they have a drug to sell — and they don’t say it has fentanyl, often just telling their customers it is Oxycodone or Ativan, etc.
In Screenagers Under The Influence, we examine the scary reality that people use apps, such as Discord and Snapchat, to reach young people in the hopes of selling them drugs. They might advertise they are selling Oxycodone, Ativan, or some other substance. The buyer has no idea that many of these are not what the sellers claim but instead are fake/counterfeit pills and that part of what they have in them is fentanyl.
This week is Red Ribbon Week, the nation’s longest-running youth drug-prevention program — and I can’t think of a more important time to talk about a new, dangerous substance spreading fast among teens called 7-OH that's derived from the kratom plant.
READ MORE >
Research shows that adolescent substance initiation — teens trying smoking or drinking for the first time — spikes during the summer. More downtime often means more screen time, which brings increased exposure to what’s trending. One trend that’s hard to ignore? A surge in cigarette imagery across films, music videos, and pop culture moments. Even Beyoncé lit up onstage recently. So why is smoking getting a media makeover — and how can we talk to teens meaningfully about it?
READ MORE >
Today I’m sharing a high-level review of what many kids and teens are being shown online in relation to drugs/substances, whether in shows, YouTube, or social media in general. I also offer a technique that you can use for bringing these things up with tweens in your life in a non-confrontational way that is more likely to get them to offer up their opinions on the subject.
READ MORE >for more like this, DR. DELANEY RUSTON'S NEW BOOK, PARENTING IN THE SCREEN AGE, IS THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR TODAY’S PARENTS. WITH INSIGHTS ON SCREEN TIME FROM RESEARCHERS, INPUT FROM KIDS & TEENS, THIS BOOK IS PACKED WITH SOLUTIONS FOR HOW TO START AND SUSTAIN PRODUCTIVE FAMILY TALKS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND IT’S IMPACT ON OUR MENTAL WELLBEING.
