Pubdate: Thu, 21 Jul 2005
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2005 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Contact:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
Author: Polly Curtis, education correspondent

SCHOOLS NEED NEW FOCUS ON DRUGS EDUCATION

Pupils are getting the message about the dangers of illegal drugs, but are
not getting enough education in school to steer them off alcohol and
cigarettes, the education watchdog said today.

Ofsted looked at personal social and health education (PHSE) classes, the
part of the curriculum that deals with social issues, in 60 schools. They
found that, overall, these lessons had significantly improved pupils'
understanding of illegal drugs. Most schools had anti-drugs and alcohol
policies in place. However, the watchdog reported that schools were focusing
too much on illegal drugs and not enough on the more common drugs of
cigarettes and alcohol.

Schoolchildren from primary school onwards were found to be more worried
about how legal drugs might affect their lives than illegal ones, according
to an Ofsted study, which also found that pupils were not being taught about
the links between drinking alcohol and having unprotected sex.

The report says: "The overwhelming majority of young people regard tobacco
and alcohol as the drugs that pose the most significant danger to them. This
should be taken into consideration when determining the balance of time to
be given to education about specific drugs and to solvent abuse.

"Links between drugs and themes such as sex and relationships education need
to be more explicit so that pupils understand the links between drug use and
risk-taking sexual behaviour."

The schools minister Lord Adonis said the government had equipped heads with
a range of approaches to tackle drugs, alcohol and tobacco in their schools,
even up to the use of sniffer dogs or drugs testing. "Of course, heads are
best placed to determine which approaches are best for their schools, and we
trust them to make the decisions that are right for their schools," he
added.

However, few schools were planning to adopt the controversial schemes of
drug testing or using dogs to search children for drugs. The report warned
there needed to be rigorous testing of such schemes to ensure they are
beneficial.

"There is a need to subject both drug-testing programmes and the use of drug
(sniffer) dogs to rigorous and independent evaluation. To be effective this
research will need to compare schools with different testing programmes with
schools that do not test pupils," said the report.

Schools came in for criticism in a separate report from Ofsted today on the
provisions they make for pupils' mental health wellbeing. Only a "very small
minority" of schools visited by the watchdog had sufficient measures in
place to pick up on any pupils who were experiencing mental health
difficulties. There was a "low level" of understanding of government
guidelines on the issues, it said.

The head of Ofsted, David Bell, said: "Parents are very interested in the
non-academic side of their children's education, and it is encouraging that
schools are making good provision for drugs education. Schools are doing a
vital job of educating young people about the dangers of drugs, and take
their role very seriously. But more schools need to work towards, and
ultimately meet, the criteria for providing for pupils' emotional health and
wellbeing, as outlined in government guidance."
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