Preventative Responses to Drug Problems

Student’s name

Institutional affiliation

Preventative Responses to Drug Problems

Drug education, despite only being recently emphasized in drug policy strategies, has a long history in the United States. Today, what comes to mind at the mention of drug education is high-profile programs. Worth noting, the earliest drug education programs emerged from the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. While supply-side strategies reduce the availability of drugs to customers by enforcing laws, demand strategies reduce the overall level of drugs in society by reducing the need for drugs among potential users.

The information model is the most familiar to the baby boomers generation that attended public school in the 1960s. It is implemented through schools and other forms of media. Evaluation studies regarding information-oriented drug education programs suggest that they are not always effective in preventing drug use. The affective model seeks to improve decision-making abilities, communication skills and self-assertion. Although the effectiveness of affective programs is not entirely clear, they have shown promising results. The social influence model is drug resistance education. The model seeks to prepare the youth to overcome the pressure of peers in using drugs. Harm reduction model assumes that abstaining from drug use is not realistic with the youth and drug use is not synonymous with drug abuse. The drug testing has been carried out in the United States since the 19th century but started in sports since the 1930s. Since the civil war, drug use has been recognized as an issue among military personnel. Drug tests in schools only started recently and the issue remains largely controversial. According to the Supreme Court, drug tests are constitutional if students participate in extracurricular activities. There are various indicators for effective drug testing, including identification of drug users, deterrence, impact on productivity, impact on accident rates and impact on workers’ morale. Some controversies surrounding drug testing include the reliability and constitutionality of drugs testing.

Summary of Article Relating to Chapter 12

The Role of Drug Education in Schools

The article centers on how the school experience is a preventative measure to the drug problem in school. The text asserts that school plays a critical role both inside and outside a classroom in preventing harm caused by alcohol or other drugs. While drug education in the school curriculum is essential, there are many ways schools can be of help. The article insists on the need to take up a “whole of school” approach as it is holistic and recognizes that students’ well-being and health result from overlapping and complex factors within the school environment. Further, the text recognizes that substantial learning takes place outside the class set up and that maintaining a good relationship with teachers, sports, coaches, school nurses, and counselors impacts young people’s development. Drug education influences students’ values, attitudes, skills, and knowledge within the classroom, empowering them to make informed decisions concerning alcohol and drugs. Best practice for drug education is that it should be relevant and accurate to real-life situations, including depicting how many young people today are addicted to alcohol and drugs. The article relates to the chapter content as both sources recognize that drug education alone is not enough as it only has a limited impact. Both texts also assert that there are various drug education programs being employed today in response to the rising use of drugs among various populations in society.

References

The role of drug education in schools – Alcohol and Drug Foundation. (2020). Retrieved 13 November 2021, from https://adf.org.au/insights/drug-education-schools/