Answer Back: Children’s views on drugs education
Agony aunts are to give guidelines to parents on how to advise children about drugs. What advice would you listen to?
| Don’t ever say ‘don’t’. The subject shouldn’t be drug prevention. It should be prevention of misuse and injury. |
Kierra Box, 15
Advice such as, "If you're going to do E, make sure you don't get dehydrated" is much more useful than "If you ever see a pill, your head will explode and you'll die". Tackling children about drugs is a nice idea, but it gives me images of parents rugby-tackling their children to the ground and prying syringes from their hands, rather than young people learning and discussing drug laws, safety and moral issues in a mature way. And, lastly, don't ever say "don't", because the subject shouldn't be drug prevention. It should be prevention of misuse and injury. The only advice anyone will listen to is stuff that helps them, not that stops them making their own decisions.
Oliver Robertson, 18
The best thing to do is to inform and warn kids about drugs from an early age so that they are always aware of the dangers. If children hear about drugs only at the age of 11 or 12, that is the age when they start to want independence, and so they will be less likely to take advice from parents and teachers. With older kids, the best thing to do is to get an unknown, outside adult to talk to them, one who has had experience with drugs, as the kids will perceive the adult as knowing what he or she is talking about.
Zak Garner-Purkis, 13
Parents need to start by being as open as possible and to tell their children about their own experiences with drugs. This will make children immediately more comfortable, and if a parent asks about drugs, the child will feel easier about telling the truth. The issue of drugs is all about feeling relaxed about talking to someone. If parents are not comfortable talking to children about drugs, they should encourage a relationship with someone who is. Adults also need to not glamourise soft drugs such as cigarettes and alcohol. Just drinking a bottle of beer in front of children can make it look "cool".
Ella Parry-Davis, 11
I would definitely listen to advice that told me about drugs and argued the bad points convincingly, such as, "Once you get into drugs, it's very difficult to stop taking them". Children don't want to be made scared but to stay safe. They have to understand exactly why it's bad, not just be told, "Drugs are bad, stay away from them". That will only make them want to find out why, and they'll try them.
About answer back
answer back is a weekly column by Children's Express members, published in the Parents' pages of The Times.
