Drug prevention

At every hand, it seems that our children are surrounded with insidious influences that seem to encourage or condone substance abuse. Movies, television, the actions of older children, sports figures, movies stars and musicians – everywhere, there seem to be people who can use drugs and still be successful. How do we counter these influences so that we can keep our young people from falling into substance abuse and addiction?

What we hear over and over is that educators are frustrated in their attempts to find a drug education curriculum that is simple, comprehensive and above all, effective enough to get desirable results. And in this context, “desirable results” means just one thing: fewer young people using drugs.

There are a couple of key concepts that must be conveyed to youth in a way they can accept and understand to get them to start making educated choices in this area.

1. Young people must feel that the risks of using drugs far outweigh what they see as the benefits. The person offering to sell them a joint or share beer or prescription pills with them is not going to fill them in on the risks before he hands over the drugs. Drug education must fill this void with accurate information about the risks of drug use, presented in a believable manner.


2. Drug use appeals to young people because it seems like it is going to solve a problem. The problems could be shyness or inability to fit in, stress of social, school or family situations, boredom or lack of adventure or excitement in their lives. Young people are capable of understanding this concept if it is expressed in their terms. Effective drug education must offer an alternative to the escape that seems like it will come from substance abuse.