Senior hosts events promoting drug prevention

Photo by Nika Svizhenko

Sophomore Garrick Chau faces off against his opponent in a foosball match.

The left corner of the student center was crowded with three foosball tables, each surrounded by two students competing against each other and tens of others cheering on Nov. 3. Anti-drug posters and brochures were hung up around the room. With senior Ryan Lin presiding over the event, students spectated and cheered for their friends competing for the top spot; chocolates, jelly beans and pencils were free for anyone attending. A similar scene is set to take place on Dec. 1.

Open to all students, Friday FoosFun Events are being held during lunch in the student center every first blue Friday of the month. They are dedicated to spreading awareness of the harmful effects of drug use and abuse and cover a new topic every month. 

Before the event, Lin designed posters and student leaders, including Lin and fellow seniors Samuel Kau and Sam Bai, hung them outside the student center and near the foosball tables. They contain information covering different aspects of substance abuse, including the short- and long-term effects of cocaine and marjuana and directions for using fentanyl test dip cards and narcan nasal spray. The idea is that students playing foosball can read these posters to stay informed of the harms of substance abuse, Lin said.

Lin brought the idea of Friday FoosFun events to the administration in October 2022 and hosted the first event in December of the same year. He was inspired by the knowledge he gained about substance abuse from his experiences volunteering at Operation Dawn, a drug rehabilitation center in San Francisco, for over eight years.

“I’ve heard and learned from the stories of residents, realizing how addiction not only afflicts users with self-inflicted wounds but deeply impacts vulnerable family members,” he said.

His work at Operation Dawn has also inspired him to found Outreach Initiatives iCare, a student-led organization focusing on fact-based substance abuse education through fun events. It has organized events at Operation Dawn and SHS including Friday FoosFun at SHS, a viewing of the documentary “The War of Sobriety and Dazedness” at Operation Dawn, a poster campaign in Mountain View and a group hike for staff and residents of Operation Dawn.

Lin notes that the events can have a significant personal impact on students, impacting their lives in a positive way.

“When students all have a good amount of information and knowledge about different addictions, it will be more likely that they say ‘no’ when offered to misuse prescription drugs,” he said.