In the recent USA today article I read,” Budget omits grants for school drug programs,” talked about how President Obama’s first budget proposes to end state grants for school drug programs that he and Vice President Biden fought for as senators. Am I the only one who thinks this is a really bad idea? How can we as educators not be worried about the loss of funding for drug programs? I really must be out of the loop if I don’t understand this?
After reading this article I had to look up some facts and this is what I came up with: In the recent poll taken by the Bureau of Justice statistics, it asked these questions and got these results:
The Monitoring the Future Study asked high school seniors, "On how many occasions, if any, have you used drugs or alcohol during the last 12 months or month?"
Reported drug and alcohol use by high school seniors,
Used within the last:
Drugs
12 months* 30 days
Alcohol
66.4% 44.4%
After reading this article I had to look up some facts and this is what I came up with: In the recent poll taken by the Bureau of Justice statistics, it asked these questions and got these results:
The Monitoring the Future Study asked high school seniors, "On how many occasions, if any, have you used drugs or alcohol during the last 12 months or month?"
Reported drug and alcohol use by high school seniors,
Used within the last:
Drugs
12 months* 30 days
Alcohol
66.4% 44.4%
Marijuana
31.7 18.8
Other opiates
9.2 3.8
Stimulants
7.5 3.7
Sedatives
6.2 2.7
Tranquilizers
6.2 2.6
Cocaine
5.2 2.0
Hallucinogens
5.1 1.7
Inhalants
3.7 1.2
Steroids
1.4 1.0
Heroin
0.9 0.4
These facts are unbelievable. Alcohol and Marijuana are at all time highs. How can we afford to make our youth miss out on the facts of drugs and alcohol, and what it can do to them? The article went into depth and discussed how the funding of $472 million wasn’t enough to help the 37 million children that the funding was suppose to “make a difference for.” The bottom line is we need more money on drug prevention, and less money on automotive bail outs. Right now, a Chrysler Mini Van is much more important then your son or daughters’ health and well being.
The article then went on to discuss how In Wisconsin, 22 small school districts have pooled their money since 1989. They have created an anti-drug website and course for rural schools, trained 1,274 educators in prevention strategies and presented 814 programs for parents. These people have taken the initiative, and ran with it. They are making do, with what they’ve got. If these little schools have found a way to make it work with the money they have, why can’t all the schools? Why can’t the U.S. government find a way to budget their money, and put it towards something really important, like drug prevention.
Growing up I was lucky enough to have surrounded myself with good people who didn’t do drugs. I was fortunate enough to have a great health class that discussed the importance of drug prevention. There are millions of kids out their, that aren’t me! Some kids come from really tough home lives, and are looking for a way to escape their problems. By not putting forth a good drug avoidance program, what will happen to these children? Will they turn out ok; will they make it through without drugs messing up their lives? I hope so. You can just add this to the list of many things we need to get back to basics on. If Mr. T says drugs are bad, then we all should listen up!!!
31.7 18.8
Other opiates
9.2 3.8
Stimulants
7.5 3.7
Sedatives
6.2 2.7
Tranquilizers
6.2 2.6
Cocaine
5.2 2.0
Hallucinogens
5.1 1.7
Inhalants
3.7 1.2
Steroids
1.4 1.0
Heroin
0.9 0.4
These facts are unbelievable. Alcohol and Marijuana are at all time highs. How can we afford to make our youth miss out on the facts of drugs and alcohol, and what it can do to them? The article went into depth and discussed how the funding of $472 million wasn’t enough to help the 37 million children that the funding was suppose to “make a difference for.” The bottom line is we need more money on drug prevention, and less money on automotive bail outs. Right now, a Chrysler Mini Van is much more important then your son or daughters’ health and well being.
The article then went on to discuss how In Wisconsin, 22 small school districts have pooled their money since 1989. They have created an anti-drug website and course for rural schools, trained 1,274 educators in prevention strategies and presented 814 programs for parents. These people have taken the initiative, and ran with it. They are making do, with what they’ve got. If these little schools have found a way to make it work with the money they have, why can’t all the schools? Why can’t the U.S. government find a way to budget their money, and put it towards something really important, like drug prevention.
Growing up I was lucky enough to have surrounded myself with good people who didn’t do drugs. I was fortunate enough to have a great health class that discussed the importance of drug prevention. There are millions of kids out their, that aren’t me! Some kids come from really tough home lives, and are looking for a way to escape their problems. By not putting forth a good drug avoidance program, what will happen to these children? Will they turn out ok; will they make it through without drugs messing up their lives? I hope so. You can just add this to the list of many things we need to get back to basics on. If Mr. T says drugs are bad, then we all should listen up!!!
Drug use in high school is becoming so rampant. Many of the students are using and selling it. We as educators need to beef up the campaign about the effect of drug in our school and on our students. In school snow it leads to arm robbery, students drop out, truancy and killing. Most of these kids come from a home where everyone does drugs. We need to help our students to understand the effect of it and try to pull them away from it. If you go to the correctional facility 90% of the people there are below 21 years and they are there because of drug. What is the school system doing?, we are loosing all this kids to the streets. The effect is that many of them will drop out of school.
ReplyDeleteDrug and alcohol use is so widely used sometimes I wonder if some people are just throwing in the towel and giving in to the idea that everyone is going to do it. I agree that we need people to stand up and take initiative on this issue. In my first year of teaching sixth graders we spent nine weeks on alcohol/drug prevention; five years later we now spend about ten school days. We are told to condense the health curriculum to the bare minimum. Our society is going to reap the “benefits” of dropping alcohol/drug programs. We will all pay for this in health care costs.
ReplyDeleteChad
I read that article too. One of the reasons they gave for cutting the funding is that they couldn't afford to give a lot of money to each school. The article pointed out that some schools had pooled their money and came up with a great program for a group of schools. The outreach counselor at our school has already been cut back to one day per week. Even with one day, our school enjoys a special "kick butts day" which packs a big punch for kids. I am going to hate to see these programs go away.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right - the government is absolutely just throwing money at everything right now. It is a spending orgy so you would think the things that are really important - like children's health and well being - would be first in line. Sadly, I think you are right - the mini van is more important than the child but it is worse than that - the rich guys who made the mini van who pour money into politicians pockets are more important than the kids. If you're a democrat/liberal and thought everything would be fine now that the evil republicans are out, what this should show you is we make a huge mistake when we think our side is right, the other is wrong, and the politicians on "our side" are somehow different. This type of thinking is why these folks keep doing this to us. The fact is they all - republicans and democrats - are cut from the same cloth. Their concerns are not our concerns and they are going to act in their own interests, not ours, the majority of the time.
ReplyDeleteMy pet theory is we have a group in power right now that is trying to change a number of things on a very fundemental level and they are taking priority over other things. I am not going to get into whether I agree with it or not. I'll just say one of these things is the entire green movement. If something is green or promotes green or pretend to be green, it can expect bushel baskets full of money. Drug prevention is not green. It's smart and we should do it, but it's not green, so we are left with cutting it for lack of funds in a period where government is spending at a rate unheard of in human history. Makes sense, doesn't it?
I think we have a really bad case of poor priorities in government right now and the kids are going to suffer for it. Pretty sad.
I saw this article too and was a bit upset. However, what we can't answer is how many kids choose not to use drugs based on these prevention programs. With all the money being thrown at other programs, I agree they should use some here too. We as teachers and schools need to get creative in how we are going to deal with this problem. Drugs and alcohol are not going away so how can we educate our students on the dangers of abuse with limited funding. I think a bigger area to focus on is prescription drugs. We have many students that are raiding their parents drug cabinets to get their fix.
ReplyDeleteOkay, first I have to ask who the commentor "ese" is? And, I'd really like to know where you come up with these numbers that you quote. Yes, drug use in schools (all, not just high school) is rampant but this is nothing new. We have had drug education programs for years. It has worked for some students but not for all.
ReplyDeleteHow can you say that most of these kids come from a home where everyone does drugs? That is a gross generalization and totally untrue. Most of the kids I have met in drug rehabilitation come from middle class homes with working parents who are NOT drug users. I agree we need to teach our students the effects of drugs. However I think the best way to do this is to bring in a recovering addict and let that person talk to the kids about what their life was like when they didn't eat for days, slept in friend's pickups, committed theft for drug money, or were scared for their life because they owned money to someone for drugs. That would have a REAL effect on kids.
I don't know what state you're from but 90% of the offenders in the penitentiary are not there because of drugs. I will admit that 90% of the re-offenders are back because of drugs, though. Recidivism is much higher with drug users as educational programs in prison point out to inmates.
Yes, we will loose some kids to drugs. But the kids who make it through a good treatment program will re-enroll in school and eventually finish and be successful. We have to remember to not hold past mistakes against our young students and give them a fresh start when they re-enter our doors.
And, YES, I do speak from personal experience.
Drug use in high school is becoming so rampant. Many of the students are using and selling it. We as educators need to beef up the campaign about the effect of drug in our school and on our students. In school snow it leads to arm robbery, students drop out, truancy and killing. Most of these kids come from a home where everyone does drugs. We need to help our students to understand the effect of it and try to pull them away from it. If you go to the correctional facility 90% of the people there are below 21 years and they are there because of drug. What is the school system doing?, we are loosing all this kids to the streets. The effect is that many of them will drop out of school.
OOps - somehow that last part got tacked on to the post. Okay - I realize I may have been a little harsh there. However, I have been the "judged" parent. I have had my other children's friends parents deem them not acceptable to play with anymore based on the actions of their brother. These parents acted like it would be contagious for their children to play with mine.
ReplyDeleteAs for the money, maybe it is better served in getting kids into terrific treatment programs and recovering. Until kids realize their cognitive thinking errors (and yes, they teach this in placement) they will keep making the same mistakes. My son is receiving some assistance from the state to be in a great placement facility that his father and I could not have afforded because we are too busy paying for his fines, citations, attorney and court fees. I thank God that this money is available for his recovery.
I was a supporter of the cause of stopping teen drug and alcohol abuse but after ten years and too many parents saying things like "what's the big deal? We did it...its only ______(insert drug here)" I give up. I am frightened by the battle I will have to keep my own children off this path as they get older. I have already cut ties or at least distanced my family from some of our friends who are much more relaxed about the alcohol rules at their homes, who let their teens drink with them or who think it is cute that their toddler can bring them a beer. THIS IS NOT OK! But this is also the culture we are fighting....all the school drug money in the world isn't going to change things until society itself has a change!!
ReplyDeleteThe scariest part of this infomation is that it is not a big city problem, it is an everywhere problem. In some ways I feel like that best thing I can do is to prepare my kids and hope that they will make the right decisions when the time comes. The bottom line is that kids are kids because they do stupid things. Nobody starts doing drugs because they thought that it was ok, everyone know drugs are bad. So why do they do it? Its because of peer pressure, lack of courage, and maybe even ingnorace (I won't get hooked). I think that as much funding as possible needs to go into drug prevention as possible. I think this because of the same reasons I always buckle up in the car. I worry more about the other people driving crazy. Same with drugs, I worry that my kids will someday be approached by someone and offered to try something dumb. In the future I hope that we as a country will have tried everything possible to either get that guy off the streets before hand and to prepare my kids to say no.
ReplyDelete