Talking to Kids about Drugs
Toolkits for Teachers
Substance misuse is an important and often challenging topic for teachers to creatively incorporate into curriculum. These websites have an integrated set of web-based resources for you to utilize in your prevention/health promotion work with youth in schools.
- Teaching Tools (Niagara Region Public Health)
- Teacher/School Resources (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health)
- Teaching Modules (National Institute on Drug Abuse)
- Lesson Plan Ideas (National Institute on Drug Abuse)
Parents
Drug use among Teens in Niagara
Talking to your child might be difficult, but it's a conversation worth having.
- 70 per cent of students (grade 9-12) report having used alcohol at least once in the past year
- 35 per cent of students report binge drinking (i.e. drinking with the intention of getting drunk)
- 40 per cent of students report using cannabis at least once during the past year
- 23 per cent of students report using prescription medications for non-medical use in the past year (3 out of every 4 of these students report getting them from home)
Reasons why Kids are doing Drugs
Kids say that they are bored, they have nothing to do, they are stressed, they want to experiment and that they want to feel relaxed.
Learn how to talk to your kids about drugs from the following websites:
- Drug education begins at home (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health)
- Youth drug prevention for parents (National Anti-drug Strategy)
- Where parents can learn more (Canada Drug Free)