Brought to you by: Health Development Agency
Drug Use Prevention Among Young People

Moderator Antonia wants to know: "How can the media be most effective in influencing young people not to take drugs?"

Mike and Dan said: Mike: There are two important aspects to this. The first is a focus on all young people who are likely to come into contact with illicit drugs at some point. It is important that they have the skills and the understanding about the dangers associated with drug misuse. Schools and other environments where young people mix and meet are the obvious places where these kinds of universal programs can be delivered. The second aspect relates to people who develop problematic and dangerous drug habits, and programs especially focused on this group of the population are required.

Moderator: Mike wants to know: "Please would you recommend some approaches for drug education for identified vulnerable young people who are at risk of exclusion from school."

Mike and Dan said: Mike: Drug education needs to begin early and should be a part of the curriculum in primary education. It is important to reach young children before they are excluded from school, and therefore it is important that educational programs involving knowledge about drugs and risks begin early. However, it is important to reach them once they have been excluded from school, and therefore services like probation and criminal justice must be part of the delivery of targeted approaches to drug prevention among young people who are at risk.

Moderator: Gary wants to know: "Don't parents have the main responsibility in dealing with this issue? Why is it dumped onto teachers and schools?"

Mike and Dan said: Mike: Of course parents have a role in the education and the development of their children. However the exposure to drugs for most young people occurs outside of the home and therefore other agencies, including schools, have a role. It is also important to note that parents who themselves misuse drugs or alcohol create a risky situation for their children.

Moderator: Anne wants to know: "If young people get involved in drugs does it mean that their parents have failed them in some way and that they will inevitably fail, or can their lives be turned around?"

Mike and Dan said: Mike: No, it doesn't mean that parents have failed their children if they get involved in drugs. But it does mean that the parents may have to work closely with their children during this period. The fact is that a large proportion of people both come into contact with illegal drugs and experiment with them. They also experiment with alcohol. However for the vast majority this is a stage, which they move on from relatively quickly. Only a small minority go on to be problematic users of drugs and alcohol. For both groups, the experimenters and those who become more deeply involved, through various interventions it is possible to get back to a drug free life. It is important though to recognise that we need to approach the needs of the very occasional experimenter and the problematic user differently.

Moderator: Greg asked: "What support can I give my teenagers as a parent to prevent them succumbing to drug culture?"

Mike and Dan said: Dan: Families do have a role in helping to provide a loving and stable environment, but this needs to be part of an integrated approach in which the family helps support schools and other environments within which drug education can take place.
Mike: It's also important that parents, if they find that their children have been experimenting with drugs, don't assume that they have passed the point of no return. Most people who experiment with drugs stop experimenting and move on fairly quickly. The danger to be avoided is of reinforcing drug culture values by being over judgemental.

Moderator: A question we have received from a large number of parents has been: "How can I tell if my child is taking or has taken drugs?"

Mike and Dan said: Dan: This issue is not covered in our evidence briefing but we would suggest that parents can consult the FRANK website, which has a specific section for parents. www.talktofrank.com

Moderator: Adrian wants to know: "What should teachers be doing now in terms of PSHE?"

Mike and Dan said: Mike: PSHE refers to personal, social and health education. The best way for schools and teachers to engage with the best practice in PSHE is to become involved in the National Healthy School Standard. www.wiredforhealth.gov.uk. This is a major Department for Education and Skills and Department of Health program managed by the HDA which provides an integrated and whole school approach to health, including substance misuse. Moderator: What can the HDA, DfES and Home Office do to work better together on this issue?

Mike and Dan said: Dan: There is a delivery group which brings together many of the governmental departments and voluntary services engaged in drugs and drugs misuse. The aim of this group is to provide an integrated approach across the government with young people firmly at its centre. The Department of Health have also recently funded an initiative to synthesise all the research evidence relating to drugs and drug misuse and to pool it together. This is funded through the HDA and is located in its drug prevention collaborating centre at Liverpool John Moores University.

Moderator: Brian wants to know: "What is the collaborating centre in Liverpool? What does it do to help?"

Mike and Dan said: Mike: The collaborating centre in Liverpool will do several important things. First, it will update all the evidence relating to prevention of drug misuse as well as evidence drawn from other spheres of government. Second, it will establish the best and most effective ways of getting that evidence into practice. Third, it will provide an information service for professionals involved in all aspects of drug education and drug misuse prevention. A key part of it's way of working will be direct involvement with practitioners, teachers and others working with children and young people and drug miss-users.

Moderator: Giles Ratcliffe wants to know: "Very little money is currently spent on drug prevention compared to drug treatment. Do you think this needs to change if we are to prevent more young people misusing drugs?"

Mike and Dan said: Mike: In the field of drug misuse prevention as well as many other areas of public health the benefits of prevention are considerably greater than the benefits of treatment. Obviously treatment is important, but if you can stop the problem in the first place the savings financially as well as the personal, social costs are considerable. The evidence in the HDA report strongly, endorses a systematic and properly evaluated approach to prevention.

Moderator: Richard wants to know: "Are there any programmes that schools can sign up to in order to encourage healthy living and improve the overall health of school pupils?"

Mike and Dan said: Mike: The most important program is the National Healthy School Standard as mentioned before in an earlier answer. www.wiredforhealth.gov.uk Moderator: Sunil wants to know: "What is the most important element to think about when designing services for young people related to drug use?"

Mike and Dan said: Mike: There are a number of elements which stand out in the programs which have been evaluated as effective. First, the provision of information, which aims to help young people understand the nature of drug misuse. Second, skills to develop resistance to pressure to use illicit drugs. Third, the development of self-esteem. These messages must be consistent and followed through. That is to say programs should not be one-off but rather should be consistently reinforced over time. The programs need to be sensitive to the kinds of problems which young people will meet in the real world. The evidence shows that solely encouraging children to say no to drugs is not in itself effective. Programmes need to be culturally and age sensitive to the needs of children.

Moderator: Fiona wants to know: "Are there any current approaches that you can recommend we STOP using?"

Mike and Dan said: Mike: Programmes which attempt to frighten children and young people or which emphasise abstinence without providing the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding should be avoided.

Moderator: Anne wants to know: "How careful do schools need to be about the amount of information they give to students about drugs. Could it be giving them info they are better off without?"

Mike and Dan said: Mike: Of course schools need to be careful about the content of drug education. However ignorance is the worst enemy of well informed citizens and in any event whether we like it or not children and young people live in a world in which drugs are available and people misuse them. If children and young people are to make healthy choices, they need accurate information upon which to make those choices.

Moderator: Petal wants to know: "How can we avoid alienating teenagers when talking to them about drugs? My kids just won't talk to me about it."

Mike and Dan said: Mike: As any parent of a teenager will know talking to them about all sorts of things can be very difficult indeed. Everything from fashion and food to perhaps more serious issues like drug misuse. There is no golden rule, but being sympathetic and understanding especially about the kinds of difficult situations that many teenagers find themselves in, with respect to drugs, is at the heart of this. It is also a good idea for the parent to be knowledgeable about the facts as well. A good place to start is with FRANK www.talktofrank.com. Check out the parent's section.

Mike and Dan says: Thank you very much for your questions.