This article is from page 6 of the 2013-06-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
CLARE students are among those participating in a pilot drugs education project that highlights the dangers of solvent abuse.
Seven secondary schools in the mid-west, including a number in Clare, have taken part in the workshop series, which is aimed at both parents and teenagers.
The workshops provide information on the dangers of alcohol, cannabis and solvent misuse.
The programme, developed by the HSE and the Mid West Regional Drugs Taskforce, was piloted in the mid-west from January to May.
Dr Sancha Power, HSE post primary substance use education worker, explains, “We specifically target second year students in secondary system. The reason for that is they are the moat at risk. They are not the newbies and they are not third years doing exams. All the education research carried out in Ireland shows that if a child is going to disengage from education, it’s that year. A lot of the drugs research would show that if kids disengage with school, that’s when they are most at risk of getting involved in substance abuse.”
Dr Power said the number of children misusing solvents has grown in recent years.
“We only look at alcohol, cannabis and solvents. Solvents are on the rise. Aerosol cans, lighter fluid, petrol. It’s gone back to 1980s when there was a lot of glue sniffing. It’s cheap, it’s available, it’s affordable. It’s everywhere you look. Some of the parents would ask us why are you teaching us about it when we are looking at 14/15 year olds. We have to keep an eye out for it because it’s so affordable. Markers are another big one. They are back on the rise.”
The programme is due to be rolled out last this year. Dr Power is encouraging Clare schools to get involved.
She said, “We have had huge positive results. Parents have thoroughly enjoyed it and the confidence they got from it. The teachers are really positive about it. They feel that it is really supporting the work they are doing and primarily that’s what we are doing. We are not trying to replace teachers. This is a supplementary programme that directly links what they are doing in classrooms to the homes.”
She added, “If there are schools out there and they want to get involved, please ring us.”