Isa Hinojosa ’25
Staff Writer
Trigger warnings: drug use and abuse.
Since its premiere on HBO Max on June 16, 2019, “Euphoria” has captivated teenagers and adults alike. Season two began airing on January 9, 2022, and “Euphoria” fever resurged, causing it to become a center of discussion in many schools, workplaces, and social media.
“Euphoria” has harnessed 13.1 million viewers, according to Variety magazine.
The show attracts many viewers, in part because of the star-studded cast featuring Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney and Angus Cloud.
The wide audience noticed the show’s extreme displays of drug use, sexual activity, parties and all the things your parents warned you about growing up. Lake Forest College first-year student Thomas Stavridis ’25 said, “I feel like it’s very overdramatized… on purpose because it is trying to show you the effects of drugs, depression, and mental health.”
Obviously, the show has an over-the-top view of high school. Anthony Mora ’25, a first-year student at Lake Forest College, said, “It sets up a weird narrative of what high school is, for not only people outside the U.S. but also for people who haven’t gone to high school yet.”
“Imagine middle schoolers watching it and thinking, ‘Oh my God, that’s what high school is going to be like,’” Mora said.
“For me, the underlying fear is that [“Euphoria”] becomes the standard of normal,” Jessica Vahey said. She is a mother of two teens who attend Chicago’s Lane Tech High School.
“My kids go to a very large, urban school and I know they are directly exposed, know of, or have heard of individuals in all these scenarios. I do feel my job as a parent is to protect them from it for as long as I can.”
The portrayal of drug use is something that the show has received backlash for in the media, but college students have varying interpretations. For instance, the show depicts characters using a range of intoxicating substances, such as alcohol, marijuana, LSD, and heroin.
Keira Krumbine, a sophomore at Bay High School in Bay Village, Ohio compared the show to her high school experience. “[Drug use is] not as accurate and popular in that way and I think it’s influencing choices that shouldn’t be made in high school.”
She continued, “[‘Euphoria’] definitely glorifies the drug and more ‘gangster’ side of high school.”
“[The drug abuse] scares me,” Bridget Crowley ’25, a first-year student at Lake Forest College, said. “I take it as a warning because of how easily you can fall into [drug abuse] and how bad it can get if you do.”
Mora said, “Clearly there are different tiers [of drugs] and that’s important for people to establish. The show might not be giving the best depiction of that.”
Mora brought up a different topic, “Some of [the show] is very social health oriented which I think is really important.”
“The show shows extreme family situations that I feel are insightful in some ways,” Crowley said. “I think it’s cool because it shows you how everyone has their own problems and their own stuff going on, no matter the performance they put on at school to look ok.”
Although the show shares many different types of relationships, they are not necessarily healthy.
“For me, [the relationships were] one of the most terrifying aspects of this show,” Vahey said. “The thought of my child being in a relationship like that (with Nate) is enough to make you double over.”
However, the depiction of these toxic relationships being horrifying in every aspect also helps to raise awareness of domestic abuse. “I think it’s a helpful way of showing what is toxic and what is not and how it can unfold,” Mora said. “It characterizes them in such a fashion that it is clear [that] the toxicity is bad.”
As discussed by college students on the various concerning aspects of this show, they feel that it is clear what is “bad behavior,” which is the concern of many parents of high school-aged children.
“What the show really shows you is how much they really live outside of your knowledge,” Vahey noted. “They live lives outside of your direct view and there are whole worlds that exist beyond your knowledge and surveillance.”
As you can imagine, finding out your impressionable high school-aged child watches “Euphoria” would be cause for some re-evaluation and difficult conversations.
If Vahey found out her kids watch the show, “I would have loads of questions. How realistic do you think this is? Have you had friends in these scenarios? I would be remiss if I didn’t say, as a parent… what flies in our house and what doesn’t.”
As for the portrayal of parents, Vahey said, “The show does an excellent job at portraying the parents as wholly imperfect beings, who clearly love their kids (most of them, at least)… You can only do what you’ve been given the tools to do, the materials and exposure to do.”
In part, connecting to characters makes the show gravitational for so many viewers (aside from the extremes).
Even through all the difficult concepts and uncomfortable scenes throughout the show, college students would still recommend it to their peers. “With all the different perspectives, you can still enjoy the story as long as you attach to one person,” Mora says.
“I think people should watch it, because I think it’s really good,” Stavridis says. “It touches on subjects that don’t normally get touched on in this manner on TV.”
Vahey’s closing remarks capture the essence of “Euphoria” and the purpose it serves: “Maybe it’s a little more difficult than one should have on a gray Chicago February, but it’s important. It’s important.”
