Drug abuse is a serious economic burden to the state due to the staggering cost of health care, productivity loss, crime and much more. According to Jackson (2006), drug abuse affects one’s physical, psychological and social well-being of an individual.
War on drugs was initiated by our very own President Rodrigo Duterte to eradicate the adverse effect of illegal drugs in our country to save the future of our children. Herewith, syndicates, pushers, and users were jailed but drug-related killings increased.
How many lives more will be sacrificed, lost and destroyed because of this nonsense drugs? How can we save millions of youth from the drug menace? Republic Act No. 6425, or the Dangerous Drug Act of 1972 provides education on dangerous drugs as part of school curricula – “that instruction on the adverse effects of dangerous drugs, including their legal, social and economic implication, shall be integrated into the curricula of all public and private schools, whether general, technical, vocational or agro-industrial. This aims to prevent drug abuse among students through the development of desirable values, attitudes, and practices.”
This law obligates educators to strengthen and be responsible for intensive education to inform and prevent their students from getting addicted to illegal drugs. Schools are important avenues for prevention efforts and school policies are significant components of a drug prevention campaign. Educators must support and strengthen this law and not be moral crusaders. Vast preventive drug education programs must be planned and implemented for prevention of drug addiction. As we always say “prevention is better than cure.”
Does a drug education program in schools works? According to research neither scare tactics nor information dissemination were effective schemes in reducing drug use (Tobler et. al 2000). In the 1960s, drug education was focused primarily on providing factual information about drugs and its harmful effects in the hope of promoting negative attitudes towards drug abuse. Schools are not places for repairing social evils but for restoring healthy attitudes and values due to the evil of ignorance. It is the educator’s duty to help the development of knowledge, skills and the cultivation of values for every learner. Parents and community agencies can help to achieve greater success in school-based education for drug abuse prevention. Do not wait for our loved ones to be victims of drugs. We must support and strengthen school-based drug education program.
By CRISANTA D.UEDA
