subject: Tips For Educating Your Students About Drug Abuse [print this page] At a young age, children should be educated about alcohol or drug abuse to help them become healthy and responsible people of the future. There are a lot of available lesson plans for substance abuse but if teachers want to make their own, they should not miss a discussion on how students can manage peer pressure that influences them to take drugs or alcohol.
While parents can educate their children about drug abuse, teachers serve as authorities who may have a strong influence as to how kids learn a particular lesson in a day. Drug and alcohol education should be introduced to classes at the earliest part of a student's life so that he will be aware of the consequences of such addictions.
Drug and alcohol education
Teachers should teach students on different types of alcohol and drugs. They must have a discussion on the effects of these substances on the body and make some corrections on possible misconceptions in the class. For example, some students may have the belief that drug and alcohol use is well-known only in cities where a lot of criminals live. This education must also include giving awareness to students on the availability of drug rehab.
Negative effects of substances on health
Student can clearly understand the bad effects of alcohol and drugs on health when teachers utilize specific information. Every word in the teaching process will matter to the students' learning so teachers must be careful about their use of words. Say, it may not be right to tell students that alcohol abuse will always lead to liver cancer. This discussion may also include statistics among people who are experiencing certain disorders as a result of drug or alcohol abuse and are undergoing treatment in a drug abuse rehab facility.
Legal consequences
Teachers should emphasize that the abuse of drugs and alcohol may have abusers face legal problems. They must also point out that once they are addicted to substances, they can be mostly sensitive to effects that come with drug abuse.
Teaching values and skills
Students must be taught how to obtain skills which will help them avoid peer pressure. Teachers can apply methods like role-playing, journaling, performing, and breathing exercise.
Educating students shouldn't be limited to teaching them addiction theories. It must include allowing the learners to determine the consequences and effects of substance abuse to their life and the life of their families.
