Strengthening Family Involvement in School Substance Abuse Prevention Programs

The importance of parents in school drug prevention efforts cannot be stressed enough. Most American citizens believe that the breakdown of the American family is primarily to blame for the dramatic increase in adolescent tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug abuse. Statistics bear this out. According to the U.S. Census, married couples with children comprised only 23.9 percent of households in 1995 – a share expected to shrink by 20 percent by 2010. Rather than bemoan the loss of the traditional family unit with a strong extended family network and strong communities, an approach should be considered that provides support through schools and communities to diverse types of families. Schools and teachers should be encouraged to form alliances with whatever family members they can interest in supporting the positive academic, moral, and social development of their students. Parents find it challenging to be engaged in school sponsored activities as much as they would like. Because of increasing demands on parents ’ time and attention as well as the increasing number of part-time, divorced, separated, or commuting parents, parents are, in fact, spending less time with their children. The Economic Policy Institute reporte