requires the cooperation of school boards, principals, teachers, law enforcement personnel, parents, and students.

Schools are uniquely situated to be part of the solution to student drug use. Children spend much of their time in school. Furthermore, schools, along with families and religious institutions, are major influences in transmitting ideals and standards of right and wrong. Thus, although the problems of drug use extend far beyond the schools, it is critical that our offensive on drugs center in the schools.

My purpose in releasing this handbook, therefore, is to help all of us—parents and children, teachers and principals, legislators and taxpayers—work more effectively in combating drug use. Knowing the dangers of drugs is not enough. Each of us must also act to prevent the sale and use of drugs. We must work to see that drug use is not tolerated in our homes, in our schools, or in our communities. Because of drugs, children are failing, suffering, and dying. We have to get tough, and we have to do it now.

WHAT CAN WE DO? 

A Plan for Achieving Schools Without Drugs

PARENTS:

  1. Teach standards of right and wrong, and demonstrate these standards through personal example.

  2. Help children to resist peer pressure to use drugs by supervising their activities, knowing who their friends are, and talking with them about their interests and problems.

  3. Be knowledgeable about drugs and signs of drug use. When symptoms are observed, respond promptly.

SCHOOLS:

  4. Determine the extent and character of drug use and establish a means of monitoring that use regularly.

  5. Establish clear and specific rules regarding drug use that include strong corrective actions.

  6. Enforce established policies against drug use fairly and consistently. Implement security measures to eliminate drugs on school premises and at school functions.

  7. Implement a comprehensive drug prevention curriculum for kindergarten through grade 12, teaching that drug use is wrong and harmful and supporting and strengthening resistance to drugs.

  8. Reach out to the community for support and assistance in making the school's antidrug policy and program work. Develop collaborative arrangements in which school personnel, parents, school boards, law enforcement officers, treatment organizations, and private groups can work together to provide necessary resources.

STUDENTS:

  9. Learn about the effects of drug use, the reasons why drugs are harmful, and ways to resist pressures to try drugs.

10. Use an understanding of the danger posed by drugs to help other students avoid them. Encourage other students to resist drugs, persuade those using drugs to seek help, and report those selling drugs to parents and the school principal.

COMMUNITIES:

11. Help schools fight drugs by providing them with the expertise and financial resources of community groups and agencies.

12. Involve local law enforcement agencies in all aspects of drug prevention: assessment, enforcement, and education. The police and courts should have well-established and mutually supportive relationships with the schools.

CONTENTS