Parents 'should be more involved' in drugs education

Thursday, 21 July 2005 12:00 AM

Drugs education in schools in England and Wales has generally improved since 1997, a new report from Ofsted says.

But the watchdog warns schools cannot be entirely responsible for teaching young people about the dangers of illegal substances, and insists parents must take action to ensure their children are informed.

It also recommends that drugs education schemes focus more on what children want to learn about - in particular, it highlights a lack of education about alcohol and tobacco, which many pupils believe pose the most significant risk.

The main aim of drug education is to enable children to make "healthy informed choices", Ofsted says, and it praises schools for improving the awareness among young people of drug problems.

"Since 1997, the last comprehensive Ofsted drug education report, there has been a marked improvement in the quality of planning of drug education programmes; achievement is higher at all key stages and most schools now have effective plans for dealing with drug-related incidents," it says.

However, the inspectors warn that in some secondary schools the lack of specialised knowledge among teachers is a problem, while many schools also fail to understand the needs of their pupils.

"For example, we need to respond to pupils' requests for a greater emphasis to be placed on education regarding alcohol and tobacco as they see these as the drugs that pose the most significant health risks to them," the report says.

On a wider level, the watchdog recommends a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of drugs education programmes in schools, and on both drug-testing and sniffer dog programmes.

In addition, it suggests that training should be offered to parents to help them play a greater part in supporting and advising their children.

Drugs education charity DrugsScope welcomes the report, noting in particular the report's concerns about the lack of specialised teaching on the subject.

"The report is also clear that drug education in isolation has its limits," said Jenny McWhirter, head of education and prevention.

"Open, communicative family relationships are also key, so we need to find ways of engaging parents and carers more fully in ongoing drug education."

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