Assessing drug awareness amongst primary school students

Abstract

Child drug education leads to drug awareness, which should lead to prevention of drug abuse. Considering the local scene, it may be argued that unfortunately not all children are aware of drugs. The objective of this study investigates what children aged seven to eight know about drugs. Furthermore it assesses what agencies against drug abuse and the education department are doing to increase drug awareness amongst the future generation. Interviews and questionnaires were carried out with a total of seventy-two boys and girls aged seven to eight, from six different schools. The results were then compared to literature review and other studies when possible. This study confirmed the hypothesis that children are not aware about drugs. It was interesting to note that even though children said they knew what drugs were, their idea of drugs is a mixture of issues told to them by parents, teachers and sometimes even agencies against drug abuse. This problem creates a confusing idea of what drugs really are, their effects, and even who can supply a person with drugs. It was also noted that the education division should welcome more the initiatives by agencies against drug abuse in order to work together to increase drugs awareness and drug prevention programmes.