Unfortunately I had to miss the event, but Drugsline havewritten it up. They say that one of the themes from young people was confusion as to why drugs don’t have the same attention as sex and relationships education in their classrooms. The event was chaired by a 13 year old, Taylah Miller, who said:
“Drugs are as relevant to kids as they are to adults – it is all around us and it is talked about, but not in school. I would know where to find them and how much they cost. But Drugsline offers the only rock solid basis of information in terms of how they might affect me and what harm they cause. Teachers have the appropriate experience to provide sex education but not to provide drugs education – which is why we need people like Drugsline who can relate to it.”
Another young person, Lisa Sharman, said:
“We are all faced with peer pressure and we are continuously subjected to drug use around us – so why are we not learning the truth about drugs from the beginning of schools?”
Rabbi Suffin urged Members of Parliament to sign EDM 500 which says:
That this House welcomes the work of Drugsline, the independent drugs crisis, information and support charity; praises their education outreach programme for schools team, comprised of recovering addicts and those who work in frontline addiction services who inspire the trust and confidence of the young people they visit; notes that in the academic year 2006-07 the charity saw over 30,000 students aged eight to 18 and aims to reach 50,000 in 2007-08; notes that charities such as Drugsline remain massively under-resourced with little or no Government funding; and calls on the Government to give serious consideration to adequately funding preventative drugs education programmes such as Drugsline.
Filed under: Drug Education Forum Members , Drugsline
