Teens face many challenges as they grow up, including navigating peer pressure, dealing with uncertainty, and maintaining mental health. La Jolla High School will address these topics and more in a series of presentations beginning in January.

The lineup will include discussions about fentanyl and opioids, financial literacy and being a good citizen. Some programs will be geared toward specific age groups, such as “Natural High,” a substance abuse prevention presentation aimed at ninth- and 10th-graders, and “Know Your Rights,” which is related to 12th class govt courses.

Here is a list of confirmed performances for the remainder of the 2024-25 school year, with specific dates to be announced at a later date.

January

• Alumni Panel for Alumni, planned for the first week of the spring semester

• Parents college panel

February

• Presentation by Jeff Bucholtz on social media, peer pressure and being an upstanding citizen

March

• Fentanyl and Opioid Discussions for Students and Parents

April

• “Know Your Rights,” with public defender Summer Shafer

• “New Student Welcome Night,” giving incoming students a tour of the campus

May

• “Money Ride,” a financial literacy presentation by William Bush

• “Natural High,” a presentation on substance abuse prevention by Jon Sundt

The events were planned in part by Katherine Williams and Neha Bahadur, co-vice presidents of programs for the La Jolla High Parent Teacher Student Association, or PTSA.

Williams and Bahadur met in the psychiatry department at Rady Children’s Hospital nearly 20 years ago and later became educational volunteers in La Jolla. Bahadur said they “have worn many hats together” over the years, volunteering for Torrey Pines Elementary School and the La Jolla Cluster Association, among others. Now, their attention has turned to La Jolla High School, where some of their children attend school.

To compile a comprehensive list of presentations, Williams and Bahadur worked closely with LJHS Principal Chuck Podhorsky, the PTSA and the school’s Associated Student Body.

Podhorsky said the student aspect of PTSA was especially important in selecting relevant topics such as opioids.

The US Department of Health and Human Services has declared opioid abuse a public health emergency in 2017 and has renewed it several times since then in light of increased prescriptions of drugs like oxycodone and hydrocodone that are misused or overused. Opioid deaths grew up from 49,860 in 1999 to 81,806 in 2022, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in 2022 that almost 14% of high school students reported misusing prescription opioids at least once, and about half of those reported doing so in the past 30 days.

fentanyl is an extremely powerful synthetic opioid, estimated to be 100 times more powerful than morphine and 50 times more powerful than heroin. Illicit drug manufacturers mixed it with other substances to increase their potency, posing a dangerous risk.

“Traditionally, as schools, we’ve done presentations for students, but that’s not the same as doing them with students,” Podhorsky said. “So if they’re part of the process and opioid awareness is important to them … the level of buy-in is much, much higher.”

Williams said the topic selection process includes determining which presentations have been most successful in the past. One such event was a fentanyl awareness workshop in May 2023 that Bahadur said drew up to 200 people and was well received by the community.

Organizers also gathered students’ views on particularly modern issues, such as maintaining well-being in a digital landscape.

A 2022 Pew Research Center study indicated that 95 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds have access to a cell phone, and that 46 percent said they use it “almost constantly.”

Some health officials have linked heavy social media use to decreased mental well-being. US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said the widespread use of social media can increases depression and anxiety and diminish its positive effects, such as being a center for community building and self-expression.

Williams said presentations like these will help students both in and out of the classroom.

“We go to a lot of schools in all the districts in San Diego, and I think one of the things that we’re very aware of — especially post-pandemic — is how mental well-being directly relates to school success,” Williams said.

Bahadur and Williams also take their personal and professional experience into account when planning their presentations. Beyond their work in child psychology and psychiatry, a degree of inspiration comes from their households as they talk to their children about the issues they face every day.

“I feel like my job as a parent is to raise adults who are confident and able to handle the world once they leave high school,” Bahadur said. “So I feel like these programs … serve much the same role.”

Podhorsky said it’s especially important to offer these presentations to students preparing for college and beyond.

“We are all in this together to ensure that our students will be incredibly well-equipped adults,” he said. “I am very proud to have such a large and strong parent organization and incredible student leaders. It’s a great feeling to have everyone working towards the same goals.”

Originally published: October 30, 2024 at 4:30 PM PDT