Drug Education
Your encouragement and support of drug education is seen as crucial to improving the wellbeing of your child and their learning outcomes. Research tells us that parental involvement in drug education enhances the wellbeing and learning outcomes for all students.
The school assists you in this process by developing relevant and engaging drug education related curriculum, programs and resources and by ensuring that the school responds to drug-related incidents in a reasonable and timely manner.
Education at school
In a typical example of effective school drug education in Victoria, a school would have:
- a drug education plan that is reviewed every four years in consultation with teachers, parents, and students. This plan includes age appropriate curriculum on licit and illicit drugs and programs to support the wellbeing of students
- a policy on how to manage critical incidents
- a minimum of 10 hours of drug education across each year level.
Contact your child’s school to find out about the school’s drug education plan and policy for managing critical incidents.
Drug information for parents
The Drug Information for Parents brochure gives you accurate information about the most commonly used drugs. The brochure is available to parents in 23 languages. It is often distributed at drug information forums facilitated by the school. See: Drug Information for Parents
Fact sheets
- Fact sheet 1 - Alcohol and adolescent development (PDF - 329Kb) (PDF - 329Kb)
- Fact sheet 2 - Alcohol, teenage parties and the law (PDF - 314Kb) (PDF - 314Kb)
- Fact sheet 3 - Standard drinks and low risk drinking (PDF - 377Kb) (PDF - 377Kb)
- Fact sheet 4 - Fact or myth (PDF - 305Kb) (PDF - 305Kb)
- Fact sheet 5 - Medicines and alcohol : a dangerous mix (PDF - 261Kb) (PDF - 261Kb)
- Fact sheet 6 - Which parental factors influence young people's choices about alcohol? (PDF - 354Kb) (PDF - 354Kb)
- Fact sheet 7 - Teenage drinking : Parents' communication style can make a difference (PDF - 345Kb) (PDF - 345Kb)
- Fact sheet 8 - Teenage drinking: Communicating with other parents and families (PDF - 608Kb) (PDF - 608Kb)
Family support services
Parenting Research Centre - a research and training organisation committed to developing and disseminating effective support to families facing the challenging task of raising children. Phone: (03) 8660 3500.
Parents Victoria - provides parents with a voice, presenting an organised parent perspective to State and Federal governments, educational bureaucracies and institutions, community organisations and the media. Phone: (03) 9380 2158.
Turning Point - DirectLine (Victoria) - provides 24-hour, seven-day counselling, information and referral services to alcohol and drug treatment support services in Victoria. Phone: 1800 888 236.
Youth Substance Abuse Service (YSAS) - provides a range of youth-specific outreach, treatment, withdrawal, rehabilitation and support programs across Melbourne and regional Victoria. Phone: (03) 9415 8881.
More information
The following links to websites provide information you may find useful. Current information about drugs, evidence-based research and activities that highlight the health impact of drugs are offered.
Druginfo Clearinghouse - provides information about alcohol, other drugs and drug prevention.
QUIT - was established to provide information, support and resources to reduce tobacco use in society.
Tobacco Reforms - provided by the Department of Human Services, Victoria. The website provides information to parents and organisations about tobacco legislation.
REDI Resources - this Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training website contains a comprehensive database of information about resources, policies and materials for drug education and incident management.
OxyGen - provides information, fact sheets and activities that highlight the impact of smoking on your health and the environment. Resources are available to support schools and the community to sustain and enhance their tobacco-prevention strategies.
Volatile Solvents Act - volatile substances or inhalants refer to everyday household products such as paint (chroming), glue, paint thinner, deodorants and petrol, when inhaled for an intoxicating effect.