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School children as young as eight to be taught about the dangers of illegal drugs
CHILDREN as young as eight will be taught about the dangers of drugs under the new national school curriculum to be rolled out in classrooms across the country.
Students from Year 3 will learn how to respond to unsafe situations involving illegal drugs, tobacco, alcohol, performance-enhancing drugs, prescription drugs, bush and alternative medicines, energy drinks and caffeine.
Drug problems in NSW public schools soared last year with serious incidents increasing from 48 reports during the first two terms to 127 in the second half of the year.
The current NSW personal development, health and physical education (PDHPE) syllabus states that by the end of Year 4 students should discuss reasons why people use drugs for medical and non-medical purposes.
DO YOU THINK KIDS SHOULD BE TAUGHT ABOUT DRUGS? TELL US BELOW
But Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia spokesman Paul Dillon said this does not happen. He said primary schools currently gave lessons about medicines and smoking but did not broach illicit substances and alcohol.
“We live in a very different world to the one we lived in 20 years ago. We have young people through social and mass media who are exposed to so much more,” he said.
“I suppose the curriculum has to match that so if some thing pops up teachers can respond appropriately and are not overstepping what it says.”
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, which drafted the national curriculum earlier this year, has said it was now ready to roll out into schools.
It said it would be up to states and schools to “decide the appropriateness and timeliness of what to teach and when”.
General Manager Dr Phil Lambert said ACARA had consulted “rigorously” in developing the Australian curriculum including the education program on drugs and alcohol.
“ACARA is committed to ensuring students receive a holistic education encompassing a wide variety of subjects that help them develop into healthy, well-adjusted adults able to make informed decisions,” he said.
The Board of Studies Teaching and Educational Standards (BOTSES) will implement the curriculum through its own syllabuses which NSW public, independent and catholic schools follow.
Child Psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said drug education for primary school children should be age-appropriate.
“It is very much dependent on what they teach, it is clearly not appropriate for kids in Grade 3 to know about the harm minimisation techniques to taking ice or heroin safely,” he said.
“What is appropriate is they learn the concept of illicit drugs and tobacco and alcohol and they learn the concept of medical drugs.”
DO YOU THINK KIDS SHOULD BE TAUGHT ABOUT DRUGS? TELL US BELOW
Bourke Street Public School mother Missy Lieser said she would be okay if the school taught her children Olivia, 5, and Joshua, 4, about drugs in Year 3 as long as it was not too intense.
“My first instinct is that it’s great, my other instinct is that it’s too young,” she said.
“Year 3 is pretty young to get into hardcore issues but to start talking about it is good.
“Families should discuss it first but for those families that don’t then it needs to be discussed and they’re the children who probably need it most.”
BOTSES spokesman Michael Charlton said the board would meet with experts, teachers and other education stakeholders before deciding when and how the NSW PDHPE would be reviewed for incorporation with the national curriculum.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...002692567?nk=25146394cdc06cb1e04467145828dfae
CHILDREN as young as eight will be taught about the dangers of drugs under the new national school curriculum to be rolled out in classrooms across the country.
Students from Year 3 will learn how to respond to unsafe situations involving illegal drugs, tobacco, alcohol, performance-enhancing drugs, prescription drugs, bush and alternative medicines, energy drinks and caffeine.
Drug problems in NSW public schools soared last year with serious incidents increasing from 48 reports during the first two terms to 127 in the second half of the year.
The current NSW personal development, health and physical education (PDHPE) syllabus states that by the end of Year 4 students should discuss reasons why people use drugs for medical and non-medical purposes.
DO YOU THINK KIDS SHOULD BE TAUGHT ABOUT DRUGS? TELL US BELOW
But Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia spokesman Paul Dillon said this does not happen. He said primary schools currently gave lessons about medicines and smoking but did not broach illicit substances and alcohol.
“We live in a very different world to the one we lived in 20 years ago. We have young people through social and mass media who are exposed to so much more,” he said.
“I suppose the curriculum has to match that so if some thing pops up teachers can respond appropriately and are not overstepping what it says.”
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, which drafted the national curriculum earlier this year, has said it was now ready to roll out into schools.
It said it would be up to states and schools to “decide the appropriateness and timeliness of what to teach and when”.
General Manager Dr Phil Lambert said ACARA had consulted “rigorously” in developing the Australian curriculum including the education program on drugs and alcohol.
“ACARA is committed to ensuring students receive a holistic education encompassing a wide variety of subjects that help them develop into healthy, well-adjusted adults able to make informed decisions,” he said.
The Board of Studies Teaching and Educational Standards (BOTSES) will implement the curriculum through its own syllabuses which NSW public, independent and catholic schools follow.
Child Psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said drug education for primary school children should be age-appropriate.
“It is very much dependent on what they teach, it is clearly not appropriate for kids in Grade 3 to know about the harm minimisation techniques to taking ice or heroin safely,” he said.
“What is appropriate is they learn the concept of illicit drugs and tobacco and alcohol and they learn the concept of medical drugs.”
DO YOU THINK KIDS SHOULD BE TAUGHT ABOUT DRUGS? TELL US BELOW
Bourke Street Public School mother Missy Lieser said she would be okay if the school taught her children Olivia, 5, and Joshua, 4, about drugs in Year 3 as long as it was not too intense.
“My first instinct is that it’s great, my other instinct is that it’s too young,” she said.
“Year 3 is pretty young to get into hardcore issues but to start talking about it is good.
“Families should discuss it first but for those families that don’t then it needs to be discussed and they’re the children who probably need it most.”
BOTSES spokesman Michael Charlton said the board would meet with experts, teachers and other education stakeholders before deciding when and how the NSW PDHPE would be reviewed for incorporation with the national curriculum.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...002692567?nk=25146394cdc06cb1e04467145828dfae
