Drug Education in American Schools – Part 2 – DAY 55

The following article is written by guest blogger, M.M who is a teacher’s aide from the US.


Continuation from: http://teachersjourneytolife.blogspot.com/2013/10/drug-education-in-american-schools-day.html



Drug: a chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being. (Dictionary.com)



We provide drug education courses for the young, have them do research papers, talk about the effects/consequences of drug abuse, but in many cases, they end up doing/using drugs anyways. Therefore, let’s ask: why do these kids end up doing drugs, regardless of all of the papers they write about or the drug topics they learn in class?


There are many real life problems and cases that the youth – our students – go through that we may not be aware of. There are parents who constantly work and are rarely at home, or are abusive in physical, mental or emotional ways. Some may pressure their students into excelling in sports or in school which can in time, create anger and other stressors within the child’s body that affect their behavior. The home environment is the most influential point of a child/student’s life – it is the foundation to which the child becomes who they are, how they think/act/say/do, and if the home environment is not balanced in regards to what’s best for the child, this will consequentially affect the youth/student so.  The biggest point within this all, is that even within a unbalanced home environment, what “runs” the family is money, and therefore, if there is no financial stability or the parent’s relationship to money is stressed/pressured, this will also affect how the youth/student behaves.

Currently there is not enough understanding or education for us and the youth/students in terms of how to work with or deal with one’s behaviors and internal world of emotions and feelings. From this, many turn to drugs/alcohol as the only way to deal with these internal, conflicting experiences and calm oneself down.  Therefore, the problem is not the material teachers are teaching exactly, it’s more that the youth are not educated enough about how to direct themselves and the experiences they have when in the real world – outside the classroom, and by not understanding these experiences or how to direct oneself are reasons they will turn to drugs to escape.

So, for the youth/students who take drugs to escape, there are reasons behind it, and it mostly comes from the parents/home environment and the fact that they do not understand how to deal or direct themselves within the experiences they have. I must say, quite frankly, there is no education at all for our youth/students about the mind, how we work internally, all these internal emotions, experiences and opinions that differ from one another that create conflicts and debate with no real solution that benefits/supports all. Why is this so? The system does not provide such education because it has basically been non-existent and no one has really stood up for a change until now with the internet and the news streaming on events happening around the world where people are suddenly beginning to question why things are being the way they are being run in this world – where inequality within human rights and the quality to live has been diminished where we are living, accepting and allowing ourselves and our children to live in a world where the 1% live in luxury off the 99%’s labors and burdens.  This system, as it is currently existent, is a problem, and with our children/students taking drugs as a means to escape their life and reality is a big red flag that something needs to be done to stop this.

As teachers, school administrators, staff and parents we require to find/teach ways on how to deal and direct ourselves, our internal experiences and real life problems for our students. This in itself however means we must understand ourselves and how we run/work within before we can teach others.  Therefore, self-education is important while we also focus on changing the current education to be more aligned with reality and finding solutions to everyday problems because this will assist all with how to work with reality as it is. This reality and solution-focused type of education must also eventually extend out towards families and parents of our youth/students because this will assist in them establishing effective relationships with their children which will bring about a harmonious home environment where there would be no need for the child to seek drugs to escape feel better about themselves in their world.

Here are some links to get more information on how we can work towards bettering the future for ourselves and our students:



Equal Life Foundation
 Living Income Guaranteed

#UnitedStates #Vocus #DrugEducation #Health #Addictions #Substanceabuse #Ateachersperspective #Education #TeenHealth