11 December 2007
Drug Education Forum comments on Children?s Plan
Eric Carlin, Chair of the Drug Education Forum, commenting on the government?s Children?s Plan said:
The Drug Education Forum welcomes the commitment in the government?s Children?s Plan to improving drug and alcohol education and look forward to seeing the detail of how this is to be delivered. We need drug education to be connected to wider strategies to reduce the number of young people taking drugs and the harm they do.
In our view it is critical that any professional that has contact with children and young people can provide useful advice and support around drug issues. This means that they need training at the beginnings of their careers and continuing professional development. We are very pleased that parents are to receive additional support too.
Talking to young people it seems clear that we do need to improve the way we deliver drug education both in and out of school.
The Children Plan says:
Schools are also in a good position to communicate the right messages and spot alcohol misuse problems early. Alcohol education in schools must be accurate and effective. We will examine the effectiveness of current delivery arrangements for all drugs education ? including alcohol ? and act to strengthen them if necessary.
ENDS