Drug Education

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Research

Policies and practice in schools are underpinned by current research into what works in drug prevention and the promotion of health and wellbeing within school contexts.

The following resources provide further evidence about effective drug education:

  • Parents, Parties and Adolescent Alcohol Use (PDF - 354Kb) - There has been little research on parents' attitudes and behaviours specifically in relation to hosting a party or allowing their adolescent to attend a party. This research contributes to the strong evidence-base for effective drug education and indicates the need for ongoing approaches in schools that promote partnerships with families and the community
  • Taking an Evidence-based Approach to Classroom Drug Education (Word - 98Kb) - addresses the question ‘What constitutes effective school drug education?’. It draws on research that has identified the characteristics of those classroom drug education programs that have demonstrated reductions in the harmful use of drugs.
  • The Principles for School Drug Education - produced by the Commonwealth, provides a framework of core concepts and values for effective drug education practice in schools. The principles draw on drug-prevention research that focuses on effective drug education programs and the critical components for effectiveness.
  • DrugInfo Clearinghouse - functions as a drug prevention network providing easy access to information about alcohol and other drugs.

 

Drug Education in Victorian Schools (DEVS) invitation to participate

Schools with year 8, 9 and 10 enrolments are invited to participate in a drug education research project by trialling new curriculum materials with year 8 and 9 students in 2010 and 2011. Students will complete questionnaires about their knowledge, attitudes, patterns of use and harms related to drugs.

The Drug Education in Victorian Schools (DEVS) Trial is a research project being conducted by the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University of Technology and the Youth Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. It aims to find out if doing a drug education program, based on the best possible evidence, leads to students making less harmful, healthier choices. The project involves developing and testing comprehensive drug education curriculum materials for years 8 and 9 students and measuring their impact on student knowledge, attitudes, patterns of use and harms related to drugs.

For more information about participating in the DEVS research project, contact Lynne Venning on 9637 2035 or email venning.lynne.a@edumail.vic.gov.au