PUPILS AGAINST DRUGS BUT DRINK IS THE REAL PROBLEM

ALCOHOL is the most commonly misused drug among Scottish schoolchildren,
but the vast majority does not indulge in illegal drugs.

This is the finding of report into drug education in Scottish schools over
the past three years.

The study found that 15% of primary six pupils and 75% of fifth year
secondary pupils drank alcohol at least once a week.

On the other hand, almost all primary and 77% of secondary pupils do not
misuse drugs. The great majority are against their use and any regular
misuse is among older pupils who smoke cannabis.

The report's authors, Kevin Lowden and Janet Powney of the Scottish Council
for Research in Education (SCRE), said, however, they were "optimistic
about the future".

"Schools are under great pressure to provide effective drug education and
this is the first study to examine changes over three years in drug
education provided in schools, what pupils want from drug education, and
pupils' reported use of tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs."

The authors said that their research had identified factors which could
promote effectiveness in drug education.

"The findings suggest that pupils are likely to respond positively to
particular teaching methods, for example, participative ones such as role
play. We can now see this information beginning to inform policy and
practice, providing a sound basis to build on."

They said: "There was little change in substance misuse over the period of
the project. The percentage of pupils who report that they smoke tobacco
regularly increases with age and it is still the girls who seem to be
smoking more.

"We must remember that almost all pupils are against using illegal drugs
and most do not use them. Pupils are three times more likely to drink
alcohol than use illegal drugs. The pupils most likely to use illegal drugs
are 16/17 year-olds who smoke cannabis."

The research, commissioned by the Scottish Office and carried out by SCRE -
the organisation told recently that the Scottish Executive was stopping its
funding within the next three years - reported that although the
participative approach to drug education was found to be most successful,
many teachers nevertheless lacked the confidence to adopt such approaches,
in part because of perceptions that they lack knowledge about drugs.

They added: "In addition, they (teachers) are wary because of the
controversial nature of the subject and because interactive methods
highlight for teachers their ambiguous role as educator and legal
guardian."

They said: "Teachers often feel unconfortable about teaching children
younger than P6 about drugs. This is mainly due to uncertainty about
appropriate content and resources."

The researchers also called for a partnership strategy between schools and
other services to be adopted more widely.

Mrs Judith Gillespie, development manager with the Scottish Parent Teacher
Council, said: "One of the big problems in the whole of drug education is
that so much energy, money and time are focused on illegal drugs that the
messages about drink in particular do not get through."

Meanwhile, Mr Fred Forrester, Deputy General-Secretary of the EIS teachers'
union, called for better training to be provided, adding that the union
would like to see a more prescriptive approach to drug education from
government.