Silence fills a classroom: awkward and unrelenting, laced with student dread. A teacher stands behind a lectern, forced to give a lecture, hating every dull-eyed stare that’s offered to her. Her pupils don’t… care about what she has to say. They’re interested only in escape, are not so subtly counting the minutes (tracing the clock’s movements above her head). And so the message she offers is a weak one. She warns that drugs are evil and demands abstinence. She then sends all children on their way, certain her job is done.
It isn’t — it hasn’t even begun.
The notion of addiction is one all adults are familiar with. Youths, however, often meet it with confusion (and are drawn into its horrors before they even realize it). This is a reflection of the lack of knowledge that is being offered within schools; and it must be changed.
The current notion that guides education is one of total abstinence: teachers provide nothing but the most rigid of warnings and give no explanations to support them. Because of this over 50 percent of teens have admitted to sampling drugs regularly (with 15 percent of those eventually becoming addicts). They are left unaware of the ramifications of their choices and assume no harm can occur.
The truth must instead be offered. Educational programs must be developed to counter teenage rebellion. The concerns of drugs and alcohol must be noted and all facts must be made accessible. Short-term solutions (like the popular D.A.R.E.) have been proven to have no effect. The curriculum must instead be revised, with information offered in detail to all age groups.
Knowledge truly is power — and students need it.
