How can we try to educate children about drugs so that they won't take any? Where are we going wrong?

Question

Why do people abuse drugs? How can we increase awareness? What do you think are going to be the effects of substance abuse if we don't act soon?

Answer 1

How my high school in N Ireland dealt woth this issue:

Presentations on drug awareness
Rehabilitated drug addicts came and told us their stories
Shown videos about the suffering family's went through who lost their children to drugs
Teenagers who were hooked on drugs told us their stories
PSNI gave presentations showing what dangerous abuse leads to; Prison officers gave us the full and completely frank descriptions of what prison is really like
PSNI presentation also brought a suitcase with glass plates over it which had drugs in it so we could see what it all looked like

We were educated on drugs extensively and were given in depth discussions on the various problems they cause.

Oh and all the above were presented to us in our School assembly hall; WITHOUT the presence of teachers [they were not allowed to watch.

Think that helped because everyone answered freely cause we knew we wouldn't see them again.

Did it work? I would say yes.

Answer 2

Why not legalise cannabis , earn revenue of it and take it out of the "dealers " hands , the police resources that are then freed up can then be focused on the hard drugs i.e. heroin , cocaine ,etc etc.
Yes drugs do ruin lives however - the average cannabis smoker doesnt go out and mug people or break into houses etc etc to feed there habit.
Junkies steal to get another fix, a cannabis smoker could not be bothered to move afetr smoking £50 bit of cannabis in the morning let alone mug people to score another bit o weed.
Has anyone ever heard of a smoker with a £300 day habit - plus look at the grocery bill they would have !!!
So keep hard drugs of the street , long jail sentences for dealers and if that dont work how about making sure every bit of heroin etc that is caught by customs is laced with laxative then put back on the street - would that mean it would be good sh*t.

Answer 3

Well true education gives a choice. Educating children "so they won't take drugs" is a contradiction in terms. People have addictions to all kinds of substances that can be harmful. Some things are obviously worse than others, but ultimately it's the kids themselves who'll make the decisions, so give them the info and let them make their own minds up. You might be surprised- most will make the right choice!

Of course, you can let your own kids know your views. Substance abuse has been going on for centuries, and I don't think we're in the middle of an epidemic myself.

Answer 4

The problem with a lot of drug education is that it's too negative. It just shows people doing one E and keeling over dead. Then they get to college at 16 and there are people doing drugs, and they don't die, and they seem to be having a great time. So they go, "all that drug education was nonsense; i'll ignore it all"

The best thing to do is to be honest about the effects of drugs, including the good effects. Then ultimately they need to make their own decisions. Even with the best drug education in the world, some kids will still take the things.

Answer 5

Why do people abuse drugs? They want to, How can we increase awareness? talk about it with kids at a young age, What do you think are going to be the effects of substance abuse if we don't act soon? who knows

Answer 6

The fact is that all young people reach the stage where they'll make their own mistakes. Giving them a one-sided education on the evils of drugs is just the kind of thing they'll rebel against. The best idea, is to tell them the effects of drugs, pleasant and detrimental, the dangers, and that if they are going to experiment, to make sure they do it with a responsible adult who has taken drugs before. Giving them a one-sided lecture and coming down hard on them if they do try drugs will only make it seem more exciting, and make them unlikely to go to you for advice, or talk to you on the matter. Open and honest communication, not laying down the law, is the best way for a parent to stop the inherent wedge between teenager and parent, from growing.

Answer 7

I think that the days of simply telling children to "not do drugs" is not the way to go. I think the website FRANK is very good because it doesn't just say drugs are bad. It tries to explain what the make-up of drugs are and just how they affect your brain, body and mood. Drugs as in all things in a teenagers life will be a matter of choice. In all choices it pays to be informed before you make your decision. For instance we all know that eating too much fat will lead to heart attacks but that the odd hamburger in a healthy diet is fine. It is actually the same with most drugs. The problem lies in people with addictive personalities. Some people can have alcohol and not get addicted, same with cocaine. What parents and teachers need to work out are who are more likely to have addictive personalities and work on therapy for this rather than just telling them not to do it.

Answer 8

I'm a big fan of shock tactics, nothing puts people off something more than seeing the effects...

Might be a bit graphic but show the kids how people who use drugs generally die, its not pretty.

My uncle was a drug user and within 20 seconds of taking a bit hit, was violently ill and died within the next 48 hours in discomfort.

This is the only thing that makes people REALLY think about drugs...

I did once hear in an education program in america, people handed out pencils says 'Too cool to do drugs' the kids shortly found out the if they sharpened the pencils enough it was say 'Cool to do drugs' and eventually 'Do drugs', lol

Answer 9

I know it's a odd thought, but I think it's cause teens like to rebel. I'm not saying we shouldn't warn teens, but say in a different way. When i was told, our teacher said he had tried pot, and it had made him feel terible and stuff. By having first hand experience, i found it made it more real. It really showed us how easy it is to get and that this guy, who was like 30 years older than us, still tried it. The year before my teacher hadn't said anything like that. He gave us the usual " Don't do it, it harms your health". Although this method works, it isnt as real and as how would the teacher know if he had never tried any of it.
Apart from that there is no way to stop teens doing drugs. It is such a sad thing, that even something so expensive and illegal is still something kids wanna try.

Answer 10

First of all educate yourself about drugs.
Drugs are not all the same.
If you tell people its bad to take drugs but its ok to get hammered you're a hypocrit.
Second, educate them that all drugs are bad, starting from the headache pill to the flu medicine and so on.
But if you say its ok to take drugs to go to work but its not ok to smoke a joint you're a snake.
Btw. I never seen Pot smokers single out a guy and smash them with a baseball bat, happens every week in some pub.
Get yourself educated before you teach others!

Answer 11

I think curiosity will never go away, just as the choice to take drugs will never go away.

As a parent, when it comes to that time I would rather my girl be trying things like alcohol in my presence instead of out in the street. The only thing you can do is educate the kids in a non-patronising way, or make examples out of their idols. I have, and never would take heroin, simply because it killed too many of my idols (and messed up my fave TV stars - Zammo, Jimmy Corkhill, etc etc).

Also, I think kids need to be educated about alcohol even more than they do drugs, simply because it's more readily available. To be honest I would rather my girl be educated about and partaking in magic mushrooms or cannabis occasionally than for her to be out drunk every night. Call me irresponsible if you like, but I don't want to be a hypocrite, especially when I enjoy a toke or two and am a full supporter of cannabis being legalised because it has many medicinal benefits too.

I can't wait for all the thumbs down I'm gonna get...hahaha