DRUG PREVENTION PROGRAMS LACKING

When the subject of drug prevention programs came up during the
Mayor's task force on community safety and harm reduction last month,
it prompted school trustee Gail Scanlan to ask the question: What
programs and resources does the Central Okanagan School District have
in place to provide students with balanced, accurate information about
the issue?

At tonight's school board meeting, she will officially receive her
answer: Not too much as shown by a report prepared by superintendent
of schools Ron Rubadeau.

In the report he has compiled for the trustees, the superintendent
lists eight so-called programs dealing with drug use.

The trouble is only two of the eight are actually drug awareness and
prevention programs. Some of the others? An anti-suicide program, an
anti-bullying program and a restorative justice program.

One of the programs he lists is Youth at Risk, a survey of risky
adolescent behaviour being conducted by Okanagan University Professor
Marvin Krank. How does a survey that questions kids about their drug
and alcohol use translate into a drug prevention program?

Another resource Rubadeau lists is the services of four mental health
clinicians employed by the school district.

While these clinicians can refer students to drug and alcohol
programs, four clinicians working on referral for 23,000 students
hardly constitutes a drug prevention program.

Even the two programs that ostensibly deal directly with drug use and
abuse, the DARE program and Lions Quest, are limited in their coverage
with the former offered at only 10 schools and the latter at 20.

The problem is there are more than 40 schools in the district and that
doesn't even begin to cover the thorny issue of how well the programs
work, if they do at all.

The school district's own statistics have shown a steady increase over
the last six years in both definite and indefinite suspensions related
to drug use.Seems like the school district is reaching for straws and
trying to use them to cover a big hole.