Earlier this fall, junior Alex Ori was in the third floor girls’ bathroom when, while exiting the stall, she felt something under her foot. She lifted up her sneaker to reveal an orange and white pill. Thinking it was an Advil tablet, she picked up the ovular tablet for inspection, but was shocked to find the word “Adderall” engraved on the capsule in bold letters.

“I was really surprised when I saw it,” Ori said. “I know that a lot of people talk about Adderall but I had never really had a physical experience with it. Adderall was just on the ground. The fact that nobody really cared and nobody really noticed just goes to show that it’s very commonly accepted as normal.”

Adderall, which is classified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a Class II substance, is a legal amphetamine, prescribed by doctors to treat disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and attention deficit disorder (ADD).

According to U.S. News and World Report, the stimulant is also sometimes used, unprescribed, as a study aid, a tool for students to stay-up late finishing school work. Studies show that less than 20 percent of teen users receive Adderall from doctors, meaning those who abuse the drug without a prescription are likely purchasing or receiving the pills from friends.

“There’s not a real high percentage of students who take Adderall during school hours,” school nurse Anne Nelson said. “My experience here is that the kids who do go on that kind of medicine go through a whole diagnostic period, and it’s done very well. So I’m confident that the kids I’m giving medicine to really need the medicine.”

Despite its prevalence among high school students, education about Adderall and other similar prescription drugs is omitted from the freshman health course curriculum at Parker. “We do drug prevention, but we don’t teach a ton about Adderall,” Upper School Counselor and Health Teacher Binita Donohue said. “We teach only in terms of what stimulant abuse is. It does get talked about when FCD comes. What we target for in health class is alcohol and marijuana just because those are the most prevalent.”

Junior and varsity basketball athlete Oliver Manilow takes Vyvanse—an Adderall-like prescription used to cope with ADHD—almost every weekday, excluding some Mondays and game days. “I take it so I can focus,” Manilow said. “ But I don’t take it over the weekend, so it hits really hard on Mondays after you don’t take it for a couple days. On game days, I have a harder time breathing and it makes me more exhausted, so I don’t take it.”

Senior Caroline Viravec, who has been prescribed Adderall for nearly a year and a half, describes the use of the drug through the analogy of a television remote control. In Viravec’s brain, she has a TV and a nonfunctioning remote that is constantly changing channels. When she’s on Adderall, the remote control works. Viravec explains that most normal people have a remote that works on its own, but when they take the medication, there’s a surplus of remotes, causing the person’s brain to become confused.

“I need Adderall to make my ‘remote’ work properly in my brain, so I can focus on one thing,” Viravec said. “Other people take Adderall because they have a seven page essay to write and they think they need to take it.”

An anonymous junior male has been illegally taking Adderall a few times every month of the school year since the start of his sophomore year. Although he has no prescription, his friends supply the drug free of charge. “I use it when I feel overburdened with homework,” he said. “I can’t get a prescription. Technically, I wouldn’t and shouldn’t be prescribed it, and it’s a whole process that would take money and time. There’s also some resistance from my parents.”

Not only does he use Adderall for school work, but occasionally for recreational purposes, adding that he has “used it for fun about four times.”

On the other end of the spectrum are some students with prescriptions who willingly supply the drug to friends. “I gave it to them because they needed help doing homework,” another anonymous junior male said, “and I told them it would help,”

Donohue acknowledges that there may be some students who take the drug without a prescription. “I think a lot of students who use Adderall without a prescription take it to focus or to complete work.” Donohue said. “They’re driven by the worry of ‘I need to get this done.’ I’ve been doing this for a long time so I’ve seen students do this.”

Although Viravec also agrees that there are some Parker students who take the drug without a prescription, she condemns scenarios like that described by Ori. “You shouldn’t be finding random pills anywhere in the school,” Viravec said. “It is an addictive and dangerous medication. It’s not okay to be distributed to anyone in the school.”