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. - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine