Drug Prevention in School Works!
Posted by Lauren on November 28, 2009 in Drug Abuse, Drug Education, Drug Usage, recovery
It has been known throughout history that education on any subject brings about more favorable results. This has proven especially true with Drug Prevention. Several new studies have elucidated this fact showing how important it is to include this in our Nations school curriculum.
American youth have the highest drug abuse rates in the industrialized world and unless something is done to curtail this trend we will be looking at a new generation of increased addiction, crime and incarceration. Drug rehab is an obvious solution for the addict, but what about those that are not addicted yet? Children moving into their formative years of development need to be educated on the true dangers of drug abuse and given the life skills to avoid those dangers. Studies have indicated that children who are educated on drug prevention and use the life skills taught are 30% to 50% less likely to use drugs after the first year of intervention.
30% to 50%! That’s an amazing figure by any standard. If we implement comprehensive drug education into our school system, or require that our schools utilize any of the number of social betterment groups offering free drug education, we could potentially cut drug abuse among children in half. This will further translate into a reduced number of adult drug addicts in our society.
The tendency of our culture to avoid uncomfortable subjects such as this is not an option. The information needs to be brought forth so our children can have a better chance at a successful and happy future.
Sources
http://www.med.cornell.edu/ipr/PDF/Botvin-et-al-1995-JAMA.pdf
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