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Aus - School children as young as eight to be taught about the dangers of illegal drugs

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http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/730414-School-children-as-young-as-eight-to-be-taught-about-the-dangers-of-illegal-drugs


poledriver View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 8,371 Today 08:33 School children as young as eight to be taught about the dangers of illegal drugs




CHILDREN as young as eight will be taught about the dangers of drugs under the new national school curriculum to be rolled out in classrooms across the country.

Students from Year 3 will learn how to respond to unsafe situations involving illegal drugs, tobacco, alcohol, performance-enhancing drugs, prescription drugs, bush and alternative medicines, energy drinks and caffeine.

Drug problems in NSW public schools soared last year with serious incidents increasing from 48 reports during the first two terms to 127 in the second half of the year.

The current NSW personal development, health and physical education (PDHPE) syllabus states that by the end of Year 4 students should discuss reasons why people use drugs for medical and non-medical purposes.

DO YOU THINK KIDS SHOULD BE TAUGHT ABOUT DRUGS? TELL US BELOW

But Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia spokesman Paul Dillon said this does not happen. He said primary schools currently gave lessons about medicines and smoking but did not broach illicit substances and alcohol.

“We live in a very different world to the one we lived in 20 years ago. We have young people through social and mass media who are exposed to so much more,” he said.

“I suppose the curriculum has to match that so if some thing pops up teachers can respond appropriately and are not overstepping what it says.”

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, which drafted the national curriculum earlier this year, has said it was now ready to roll out into schools.

It said it would be up to states and schools to “decide the appropriateness and timeliness of what to teach and when”.



General Manager Dr Phil Lambert said ACARA had consulted “rigorously” in developing the Australian curriculum including the education program on drugs and alcohol.

“ACARA is committed to ensuring students receive a holistic education encompassing a wide variety of subjects that help them develop into healthy, well-adjusted adults able to make informed decisions,” he said.

The Board of Studies Teaching and Educational Standards (BOTSES) will implement the curriculum through its own syllabuses which NSW public, independent and catholic schools follow.

Child Psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said drug education for primary school children should be age-appropriate.

“It is very much dependent on what they teach, it is clearly not appropriate for kids in Grade 3 to know about the harm minimisation techniques to taking ice or heroin safely,” he said.

“What is appropriate is they learn the concept of illicit drugs and tobacco and alcohol and they learn the concept of medical drugs.”

DO YOU THINK KIDS SHOULD BE TAUGHT ABOUT DRUGS? TELL US BELOW

Bourke Street Public School mother Missy Lieser said she would be okay if the school taught her children Olivia, 5, and Joshua, 4, about drugs in Year 3 as long as it was not too intense.

“My first instinct is that it’s great, my other instinct is that it’s too young,” she said.

“Year 3 is pretty young to get into hardcore issues but to start talking about it is good.

“Families should discuss it first but for those families that don’t then it needs to be discussed and they’re the children who probably need it most.”

BOTSES spokesman Michael Charlton said the board would meet with experts, teachers and other education stakeholders before deciding when and how the NSW PDHPE would be reviewed for incorporation with the national curriculum.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...4467145828dfae

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#2 Cliffy78 View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact Send Email
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Posts 438 Today 08:47 I remember when I was young and they had started D.A.R.E(drug abuse resistance education-I think) here in the states I was in 2nd grade I think, but they showed us coke and weed and asked us if we ever saw our parents use these drugs. They tried to get us to rat our parents out. It's real crazy now that I look back. Reminds me of nazi Germany a little with the rat out your neighbor type theme. If your gonna teach kids to "just say no " that's fine and dandy, but to try to get 7yr olds to unknowingly rat on they're parents is just wrong IMO.

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#3 poledriver View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 8,371 Today 08:52 ^ Yeah that's shit.

I can't recall any 'drug education' kind of stuff in my primary school yrs, but it might be that I've just partied too hard in later years and forgot it if we did do any. Last edited by poledriver; Today at 10:02.

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#4 neversickanymore View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 10,522 Today 09:38 Brain washing them early. RECOVERY FORUMS ~~~ADDICTION GUIDE~~~ CONTACT ME

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#5 Frydea View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 123 Today 11:17 What a joke. For some reason I don't remember the DARE program being as big a deal in my elementary school as others (I was that age in the late 90s/early 2000s in Los Angeles). I think a couple cops came in an gave us a lecture or two on how we shouldn't smoke or do drugs, but it was never an actual program like I've heard it described in other schools. What I remember most was that even at that young age a lot of the kids though it was a joke, and we would all say that DARE stood for dumb ass retarded education lolol

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#6 my3rdeye View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 934 Today 13:21 I remember the drug lecture back in the late 80's we got. A big heavy metal kid asked the cop if he ever drinks a nice cold beer after a long days work. The cop replied in the affirmative. The rocker then pointed out that the teachers all went out after work and were seen at the bar too. He asked how can they all be so hypocritical as they were all drug users as well. Cops and teachers really hate being called drug users.
You can't tell kids not to do drugs then go get shit faced yourself. You can't lecture them about using alcohol safely and not give the same lecture about safe drug use. That gives the impression one is okay and the other is not. For years there has been this unspoken alcohol is okay message we give kids. You can't just stand up there saying "bad bad bad" when you do it too. Kids see right thru that.
Anyway drugs have nothing to do with children I am sick of the debate always going that way. I am an adult and should be able to do what I want. If you cant keep your kids away from drugs that is not my problem it's yours.

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#7 toothpastedog View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact Send Email
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Blog Entries21 Today 13:30 I'd be more concerned with what kids will be taught and will consequently learn about drugs and any other potentially high risk activity than the fact they are learning about them. If they were presented with, hopefully in appropriate ways given their age regarding explicit or developmentally sensitive material, the reality or "truth" as related to drugs that would be best. Then it's hard for kids to figure this stuff out for themselves at this age, and that's ultimately what's important.

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#8 Corazon View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 788 Today 13:55 Originally Posted by Frydea
What a joke. For some reason I don't remember the DARE program being as big a deal in my elementary school as others (I was that age in the late 90s/early 2000s in Los Angeles). I think a couple cops came in an gave us a lecture or two on how we shouldn't smoke or do drugs, but it was never an actual program like I've heard it described in other schools. What I remember most was that even at that young age a lot of the kids though it was a joke, and we would all say that DARE stood for dumb ass retarded education lolol
My parents had enough sense to lie about our address, so that I could go to the better public school.
My DARE program didn't try to trick us into ratting out our parent's drug use either. Just cops who gave us football cards, and had me convinced until I was older that marijuana would kill you.

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#9 szuko000 View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Blog Entries1 Today 16:25 We had dare when I was in 4th grade. To be honest it's way too bias and starts way to early. Telling kids drugs are bad is great I'm all for telling them to say no when they are 5-8. I think it's important children learn to not take random things, as far as why and the dangers associated no.

They should then revisit the topic years later 12-16 and give an In depth harm reduction-esk class (as this is school and they won't teach the best way to inject) fear mongering and creating couriosity through making a forbidden fruit is bad.

When I was in HS I was good enough friends with the health teacher to do 3 freshmen "intro to drugs" class and a week long advanced drug course for my senior class. He was only cool with it because of how it was conducted tried to be as non bias and come off as not at all glamorizing. It was great and if I even helped one mind it was worth all the extra work for no reason. That is how it should be tought

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#10 CLICKHEREx View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles
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Posts118Today 18:02

Why aren't they also informing them of the hazards of legal drugs at the same time?

And the "just say no" campaign worked really well, didn't it? (sarcasm).

Their peer group will have far more influence than any govt. indoctrination / propaganda program.

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bush and alternative medicines

huh, what's rationale for this i wonder, it's not as though kids in grade three are going to go out and forage for bush medicine,

or is it more of a "Big Pharma knows best" indoctrination approach?

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huh, what's rationale for this i wonder, it's not as though kids in grade three are going to go out and forage for bush medicine,

or is it more of a "Big Pharma knows best" indoctrination approach?

We have a system of governance through consultation with stakeholders, which you would think was with the populous that would be affected by any changes.

However because there are so many ppl (this is how it was explained to me bu a senior bureaucrat) it is only done with one or two of the largest "players" (usually a corporate entity) because they spend lots of time, $ & effort constantly gauge public perceptions & mood on the subject. Which believe it or not (insert which ever department here) does not have the resources to do.

So when rep's from merck & pfizer et Al. go to the minister & say "we are very concerned with the harm these unregulated & untested" substances might do, they are the experts so the minister listens.

I wonder how the grubbyment might respond to the record number of kids being home schooleded and therefore not getting the correct message from the national curriculum?

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wouldnt even have a clue that illicit drugs existed ...or about their effects; if it had not been for the stupid D.A.R.E. campaign here -age 13 at school

it pretty much had everyone smoking weed within a year

(back when people were blagged that weed was dangerous, mind you , that continues today here)

....and some going much much further , some who've died as a result now , 21 years later....

on things that really were very dangerous indeed... sadly

at least over there it mentions a medicinal use , didnt here

Edited by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ
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I wonder if in addition to be "warned" of the dangers of drugs, children will be allowed to speculate on why drug use is endemic in Aus society if drugs are so harmful. Imagine if someone actually dared to ask THE question instead of trying to stamp out perpetual spot fires. The harm that comes from any substances depends on how it is used and thus the risk factor is dependent on every individual.

Be interesting to see what might happen in years to come if, from an early age, kids were informed about the multitude of reasons that people use drugs (legal and illegal), the harms that can and do stem from that, and what alternatives/long term fixes there could be.

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Didn't they just recently conclude that DARE is ineffective or counter productive? What a shit idea.

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