SCHOOLWORK

700,000 children started secondary school in Britain this month. By now,
70,000 of them have mastered a new skill: how to take drugs.

ONCE it was a furtive cigarette behind the bike sheds, or a couple of swigs
from a battle of cider on the school bus. Nowadays, such youthful attempts
at rebellion are likely to seem almost quaint to Scottish schoolchildren.
Instead of practising inhaling a Players No 6 or getting tipsy on
Woodpecker, by the time of their final exams, same will have experimented
with cannabis, Ecstasy, aerosols, amphetamine sulphate, and even heroin.

Every school in Britain today has a drugs problem, according to 'The Truth
About Drugs', a new book which also claims that of the 700,000 British
children who started secondary school this month, more than one in ten will
be taught to use drugs within weeks - by their classmates. The author, Dr
Patrick Dixon, claims nearly two million pupils have taken drugs and that
"drug dealing is now a normal part of school life".

"Every classroom is affected in some way, whether teachers realise it or
not," he says. "Some pupils are suffering from the after-effects of illegal
drug-taking most days of the week."

Many parents might dismiss such assertions as alarmist. Even those adamant
that such problems would never occur at their child's school - and that if
they did their child would never be involved anyway - may have had to
reconsider their views following the recent removal for handling cannabis of
three pupils from one of Scotland's private schools. The incident, involving
pupils from George Watson's College in Edinburgh, where fees are up to
UKP8,000 a year, demonstrates the extent to which drugs have permeated
school life. Watson's is located in Morningside, the antithesis of the sort
of deprived inner-city school where, according to popular stereotype, pupils
are more likely to use drugs. It is the latest in a long line of private
schools that have found pupils involved with drugs.

Watson's headteacher, Frank Gerstenberg, points out the three sixth form
students whose parents were asked to withdraw them from the college - they
would have been expelled otherwise - were all "highly intelligent and able
pupils. They would have been aware of this school's position that any pupil
found to be involved with drugs will be asked to leave. However, we are
doing our best to support them with career and college advice."

Local authority schools are less likely to automatically show the door to
children caught with drugs, since they have a legal requirement to educate
children. Douglas Campbell, headteacher of Bell Baxter High in Cupar, Fife,
says: "It is the easy thing, asking someone to leave and letting some one
else deal with the problem. My reaction if drugs are found is police
involvement because this is a serious criminal offence."

Not that Campbell advocates a purely punitive response. "We and the police
distinguish between someone experimenting with cannabis and taking harder
drugs. Youngsters at this age do make mistakes and we can help them to put
it behind them. What's behind the drug taking is the real problem."

Mike Cadger, manager of Crew 2000, the Scottish drugs information, project
for under-25s, backs this approach. "Statistics show that 50 to 60 per cent
of 16-year-olds have tried an illicit substance, and making an example of
those who get caught is only likely to make than feel ostracised and prevent
others who may need help from seeking it," he says. "The more sensible
answer is to try to improve the quality of drug education in schools."

Opinions on how schools should educate their pupils on the dangers of drugs
are as diverse as those on whether or not pupils who have been caught with
drugs should be excluded. In 'The Truth About Drugs', Dr Dixon, a medical
author, broadcaster and lecturer suggests that every school should draw up a
"drugs charter", to be signed by every pupil and parent before admission,
and that pupils should undergo random drug tests. He is critical of
techniques whereby children are given advice on how to take drugs safely,
instead of being told to refuse them. "The majority have never tried drugs,
and they should be taught that it is normal not to take drugs."

At Scotland Against Drugs, Steve Clayton agrees with the need to provide
information within a moral framework. "It is important to put advice in the
context of families, relationships, career prospects."

Dave Liddell, Scottish Drugs Forum manager, disagrees: "There is no evidence
that taking a tough moral stance and saying drug taking is wrong achieves
the desired result."

Checked-by: Don Beck