Report to the People
Drugs Education in Schools
"Knowledge," said Francis Bacon in 1597, "itself is power."
Whatever else has changed since Bacon’s time, the value of knowledge has not. As I argue regularly in this column, knowledge and skills are the difference between a low-paid, low-prospects job and the fulfilment of your ambitions.
But, important as this is, knowledge is not only a passport to the finer things in life. It also helps us protect ourselves from some of the more unpleasant aspects.
And nowhere is this truer than with the biggest, most sinister threat to our community today: drugs.
As with other dangers such as AIDS or faulty gas fires, ignorance about drugs can be deadly. It is therefore crucial that our young people are armed with facts they need to explode the myths and mystique which surround so much of this issue.
It was with interest, then, that last week I read the results of the second annual survey on drug education in schools.
Published by the Scottish Executive’s Education Department, these figures detail how many schools provide drug education, what form this drug education takes and how schools deal with incidents of drugs misuse and smoking.
The main finding was that 97% of Scottish schools provide drug education - up 2% from last year. Virtually all secondary schools educate their students about drug issues and 98% of primary schools do so.
The figures relating to primary schools are especially welcome. Drugs and drug dealers are no respecters of age. There is no point in only beginning to educate young people about the dangers of drugs after they are exposed to them. Young people must have the knowledge they need well before any such risk arises.
On this point Inverclyde’s primary schools deserve particular mention. According to the figures, they all provide drug education. Every single one also provides education on alcohol, tobacco, solvents and prescription drugs.
Indeed, whenever I visit a local primary school, the number of pupils’ pictures covering the walls warning of the dangers of drug taking, alcohol abuse and smoking is striking.
Drug education is not, of course, the complete answer. We must continue cracking down hard on dealers, rehabilitating those with drug problems and tackling the root causes such as poverty and deprivation.
But, by educating our children about the dangers of drug abuse at a young age, we give them a better chance of staying drug free and ourselves a better chance of not losing another generation to this menace.
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