‘I love you, Mum. I promise I won’t die.’

On Tuesday, 28 February, Year 9 pupils were visited by the team behind a deeply moving play telling the story of a bright young man (who grew up only a few miles from the school) whose life was taken by drugs. The Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation is a leading UK charity using the real-life experience of the teenager to raise awareness of the life-threatening harms of drug abuse.

We learned that it wasn't a stranger who offered drugs to Dan. In fact, it was one of his friends. Many people believe that the drug abuse epidemic is fuelled by a network of strangers, perhaps defined by the image of a shady person in a dark alleyway one night convincing an unsuspecting person into 'trying' something new. Not so.

The lesson learned here is that you should always be ready to say 'no' when somebody tries to offer you something hazardous—even when it's someone you know and trust.

At Wilson's, we are lucky to have peers who are motivated to focus on wholesome things: academic work, sport, music, and healthy social interactions. However, this doesn't make our school immune to drug abuse. We all have to act prevent this and it is vital we are equipped with the courage to say 'no', and the awareness of what harms drug abuse can and does lead to.

Dan was unlucky. Out of four people who took MDMA that night, only he died. This was only his third experience of MDMA. It was also his last.

On behalf of my peers, thank you once again to the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation for an incredibly moving performance that really will stay with us for many years to come.

Article by Aryaman – Year 9