Drugs and prevention in polish schools

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Drugs and prevention in polish schools

8 October 2013

In most Polish schools, drug prevention fails to deal adequately with drugs and their associated risks, with instruction often provided by untrained staff - this is the conclusion reached in the latest report from the Supreme Audit Office.

The publication, focussing on how Polish schools deal with the subject of drugs and drug education, claims that efficient drug prevention is restrained by fear of damaging the reputation of institutions, and that this leads to an under-estimation of the problems and risks associated with the use of illicit substances.

According to the survey, headteacher often underestimate the drug problem in their institution, putting effective prevention and peer education at risk. Below the tip of the iceberg, more than half of all teachers and tutors responsible for holding the prevention sessions have never attended any training in order to acquire basic knowledge of the subject. Furthermore, school prevention programs are often superficial, and are prepared without properly considering the problems related to drug use.

Click here to read the full article.

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