ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews some of the key issues in drug education with particular reference to school-based interventions, including approaches to drug education and prevention in schools, and some of the theoretical and practical issues informing such approaches. Concern over the growing number of young people who report using drugs and the need for school-based education and prevention programmes is reflected by government policy and national education strategy documents and by the development of various initiatives to address drug education and drug misuse in the context of school curricula. A range of interventions have been implemented in schools, including drugs education through curriculum subjects, through special programmes and through the ethos of the school. Sometimes a combination of approaches is used within a coordinated framework. For example, a community-based initiative might include an information component using mass media and/or educational programmes for parents, as well as a life skills and social influences component delivered through schools.
