Pubdate: Sun, 15 Oct 2006
Source: Chronicle Herald (CN NS)
Copyright: 2006 The Halifax Herald Limited
Contact:  http://thechronicleherald.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180
Author: Jocelyn Bethune

TEACHERS, USE TRAGEDY FOR DRUG EDUCATION, URGES EXPERT

SYDNEY - The recent deaths of three young men from  suspected carbon 
monoxide poisoning is a valuable  teaching opportunity that can be 
incorporated into  everyday classroom instruction, says a drug educator.

"That is a very teachable moment," said Gary Roberts,  director of 
programming for the Canadian Association  for School Health, an 
Ottawa-based non-profit  organization.

He was referring to the deaths of a trio of friends  whose bodies 
were found in a car inside a garage in  Kingston, Kings County last 
weekend. They had been  drinking.

Mr. Roberts was the keynote speaker at a two-day Sydney  workshop 
that ended Friday for 90 junior high teachers  from the Cape 
Breton-Victoria regional school board.

By role-playing different scenarios with their  students, teachers 
could examine the decisions "that  occurred that night with those 
guys and the different  opportunities they or someone else may have 
had to change the outcome," he said.

Students in grades 7 through 9 are "at a critically  important age, a 
period when experimentation with  alcohol, cannabis and tobacco 
begins to accelerate,"  Mr. Roberts said, adding the number of young 
people using alcohol and cannabis triples during that period.

That's why it's important for teachers to be able to do  drug 
education at least five times during the school  year, he said. A 
single presentation to a class by a  former addict doesn't make much 
difference, as students  need sessions that focus on engaging them 
and allowing  them to discuss the issues, he said.

"Drug education can be one of the most interesting  classes a kid can 
take if it is approached in a way  that is relevant to them."

Drugs like crystal meth and ecstasy have stolen the  headlines lately 
but "alcohol remains the most  significant problem among young people 
and in  communities," said Mr. Roberts, adding the number of  teens 
binge drinking or combining alcohol with  prescription drugs has been 
going up over the years.

Teachers and other school staff have a unique view of  most students' 
daytime activities and can have quite an  influence on that 
behaviour, Mr. Roberts said.

"If teachers are alert to possible problems, they can  intervene and 
provide an important intervention at a  point where a child's 
development could really be  turned around."

Joanne Chabassol, a co-ordinator of the workshop, said  the goal was 
to give educators training to help prevent  drug abuse among students.

"Drug prevention is most effective when taught as part  of a 
comprehensive health curriculum by teachers who  have an 
understanding of the best practices in  addiction prevention," she said.

The addiction services of the Cape Breton district  health authority 
hosted the workshop.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine