Peer Helpers use haunted house to teach dangers of marijuana

Published 12:00 am Friday, April 21, 2017

Andalusia High School Peer Helpers inspired fellow students on Thursday with a Marijuana Haunted House in the school library to spread awareness about the drug’s dangers.

“With all of the pressure these days for states to legalize marijuana under the guise of medicine, we wanted to do something to let the students know that that doesn’t make it healthy,” Andalusia High School librarian Charlotte Spurlin said. “We decided to do a haunted house theme to show how scary marijuana use can be.”

Along with being a learning experience, Spurlin said the group wanted to make it fun for the students.

“It’s education with a fun side,” Spurlin said. “They are more receptive when it’s fun and we have the kids doing the haunted house tour because kids listen to kids better than they do adults.”

Spurlin said that after the students completed the tour they had the option to sign pledge cards.

“We have pledge cards at the end of the haunted house that the students can sign,” Spurlin said. “If they choose to sign the card, they can then redeem them for donut holes. So far, I’ve only noticed one kid that didn’t want to sign the card.”

Spurlin said that the event was a big success.

“We have really had a lot of great things said about the tour,” Spurlin said. “This makes it a conversation piece with the students. They have really asked a lot of questions and it has helped us open up a dialog between teacher and student.”