Supplementary Materials on Drug Education

Statement of Problem: The problem of this paper was to develop supplementary drug materials to be used with the health textbook at Potomac High School. The information provided in the current health textbook is not thorough enough to provide adequate information in some areas of drug pharmacology. The supplementary materials are designed to not only provide factual information but also to encourage attitudinal changes in the students through the use of various activities. Procedure: Four steps have been taken in order to solve the problem of developing supplementary drug materials for the Potomac High School health education class. A review of the periodical literature for articles pertaining to drugs was conducted. A search for pharmacological information and statistics of drug use was conducted for inclusion in the supplementary materials. The second step was a review of journal articles for research studies relating to drug education programs. The articles were studied in order to determine which aspects of drug education programs researchers appraised as successful. Having obtained the above information, a perusal of the drug related and health textbooks was done. This information was primarily incorporated into the supplementary materials. The fourth and final step was an examination of some of the current and past drug education programs. These programs were studied in an attempt to determine which methods and exercises would prove more effective in producing positive student attitude changes. Conclusions: Two principal conclusions have been drawn from the experience of having compiled drug information for the supplementary materials. Although searching for and then selecting the most relevant drug information was time consuming, it was also rewarding. After reading about the various drug education programs, it was interesting to note that one particular program would not be effective for every school. However, each program contained similar aspects. For instance, most of the programs used some form of counseling whether it be individual or group. Also, the counselor was usually on staff, but sometimes employed from outside the educational field. Recommendations: After the supplementary materials have been used for a year, the first two recommendations should be followed to retain the effectiveness of the information. The remaining recommendations would be more beneficial if they could be implemented some time during the coming or the next school year. Each year the supplementary materials should be evaluated for effectiveness. This could be done by means of tests on the materials, questions asked by students pertaining to the materials and the frequency of drug abuse incidents in the school. The materials should be up-dated each year in order to add new information or replace new information with that which has become outdated. Teacher in-service workshops should be held in order to learn about the latest drug trends, new drugs on the market and counseling techniques. These are very important aspects to beginning and maintaining a successful drug education program. Drug education should be integrated into other areas of education not be dealt with solely by the health teacher. Other teachers could deal with student values clarification, communication skills, developing self-esteem and/or nutrition. Outside sources should be implemented into the program. For example, a lawyer, police officer, nurse or a drug counselor (to name a few) could add further insight into the drug problem