News (Media Awareness Project) - CN BC: Clark Announces School Program To Head Off Drug Problems |
| Title: | CN BC: Clark Announces School Program To Head Off Drug Problems |
| Published On: | 2003-06-06 |
| Source: | Abbotsford Times (CN BC) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-20 05:13:10 |
CLARK ANNOUNCES SCHOOL PROGRAM TO HEAD OFF DRUG PROBLEMS
Grade 10 students will have to take a mandatory course on the effects of
drugs and alcohol, or they won't graduate, Education Minister Christy Clark
announced Thursday morning at an editorial with members of the Vancouver
Area Newspapers Network.
The classes could start as soon as this September but will definitely be in
place by September 2004, the minister said.
"If students don't pass that course, which will be Planning 10, they won't
graduate. Every child in British Columbia who graduates from our high
schools will have to have a core understanding of the impact of substance
abuse. We want to make sure it's embedded in the curriculum and every child
knows about it," Clark said.
The drug and alcohol substance abuse information will be based on current
evidence and will be a key feature of the Planning 10 curriculum," she said.
Clark said we have to do more to ensure kids have all the information they
need to help them make better decisions. She said she wants teenagers to
have the chance to see the harsh facts of living as a drug addict before
they start getting involved in substance use and abuse.
"We've seen these tragedies, kids getting into cars and killing other kids.
This won't be a cure-all, but it's, I think, a part of the puzzle," she
said.
The curriculum will be entirely new, she said, and should fill in the
education gaps in addressing the negative effects of substance abuse around
the province, she said.
W.J. Mouat secondary school principal Des McKay said education about the
issue is vital, especially as substance abuse seems to be increasing in
society. Although he couldn't address Clark's announcement as he had not yet
seen it, he believes the message has to permeate a child's education.
"I believe, from all my years of teaching, it can't just be a pullout course
in Grade 10. If we're trying to have healthy communities the message has to
be throughout the education system. We have to introduce concepts about
health lifestyles at a very young age," he said.
With files Times news service files
Grade 10 students will have to take a mandatory course on the effects of
drugs and alcohol, or they won't graduate, Education Minister Christy Clark
announced Thursday morning at an editorial with members of the Vancouver
Area Newspapers Network.
The classes could start as soon as this September but will definitely be in
place by September 2004, the minister said.
"If students don't pass that course, which will be Planning 10, they won't
graduate. Every child in British Columbia who graduates from our high
schools will have to have a core understanding of the impact of substance
abuse. We want to make sure it's embedded in the curriculum and every child
knows about it," Clark said.
The drug and alcohol substance abuse information will be based on current
evidence and will be a key feature of the Planning 10 curriculum," she said.
Clark said we have to do more to ensure kids have all the information they
need to help them make better decisions. She said she wants teenagers to
have the chance to see the harsh facts of living as a drug addict before
they start getting involved in substance use and abuse.
"We've seen these tragedies, kids getting into cars and killing other kids.
This won't be a cure-all, but it's, I think, a part of the puzzle," she
said.
The curriculum will be entirely new, she said, and should fill in the
education gaps in addressing the negative effects of substance abuse around
the province, she said.
W.J. Mouat secondary school principal Des McKay said education about the
issue is vital, especially as substance abuse seems to be increasing in
society. Although he couldn't address Clark's announcement as he had not yet
seen it, he believes the message has to permeate a child's education.
"I believe, from all my years of teaching, it can't just be a pullout course
in Grade 10. If we're trying to have healthy communities the message has to
be throughout the education system. We have to introduce concepts about
health lifestyles at a very young age," he said.
With files Times news service files
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