Press Release - Drug Education linked to Drug Use
SEE ALSO PRESENTATION TO DRUG EDUCATION FORUM - March 2005
In the latest issue of the journal 'Education and Health' (vol.21 no.3) we report on a link between lower drug use and usefulness of drug education which shows a similar association to the Department of Health's survey 'Drug use, smoking and drinking among young people in England in 2001'
We ask a question in our secondary questionnaire, about pupil’s recall and assessment of school lessons about a variety of Personal, Social and Health Education topics. When looking among the 13,809 Year 10 (14-15 year old) pupils who answered this question in 2002, we find:
We can find this association in males and females separately, and in a data set from Hull and East Riding where a much smaller questionnaire was used that focussed only on drugs. So, this association can readily be replicated. It is tempting to interpret this finding as meaning that good drug education inhibits or retards experimentation with drugs. However, it might also be the case that those young people who are most likely to experiment with drugs are those least likely to respond well to drug education of any quality.
Perhaps the best reaction to these data is to ask ourselves how we can offer drug education that will be useful to all young people, whatever their background or likely future habits.
Notes for Editors
1. SHEU is an independent research and evaluation company. Founded in 1977, by John Balding, as the Schools Health Education Unit, the Unit is now part of SHEU. Our school surveys are reported each year in the 'Young People in...' series. 'Young People in 2002' will be available soon and a release will be available on this website.
2. The 13,809 Year 10 (14-15 year old) pupils referred to is not from a national survey. The accumulated data from the hundreds of school surveys we support each year, involving tens of thousands of young people, is a valuable resource of information and provides many opportunities for research. However, each annual sample of survey schools represents a different combination of regions within the UK, and is not a random sample selected for the purposes of providing a nationally representative picture. Our confidence in the representative nature of the data is based on a) its year on-year consistency and b) comparison, where possible, with data derived from surveys using carefully selected national samples.
Nevertheless, we caution against simple reporting and interpretation of our databanks as being from 'a national survey'.
If you require any further information contact Dr David Regis - Director and Research Manager Tel: 01392 667272
In the latest issue of the journal 'Education and Health' (vol.21 no.3) we report on a link between lower drug use and usefulness of drug education which shows a similar association to the Department of Health's survey 'Drug use, smoking and drinking among young people in England in 2001'
We ask a question in our secondary questionnaire, about pupil’s recall and assessment of school lessons about a variety of Personal, Social and Health Education topics. When looking among the 13,809 Year 10 (14-15 year old) pupils who answered this question in 2002, we find:
- 32% said they cannot remember any lessons about drug education (including tobacco and alcohol)
- 10% thought that they were not at all useful
- 20% thought their lessons were of some use
- 21% said quite useful
- 15% said very useful
- 32% said they had ever taken a drug [other than medications, alcohol and tobacco]
- 40% said they had ever taken a drug [other than medications, alcohol and tobacco]
- 27% said they had ever taken a drug [other than medications, alcohol and tobacco]
- 23% said they had ever taken a drug [other than medications, alcohol and tobacco]
- 23% said they had ever taken a drug [other than medications, alcohol and tobacco]
We can find this association in males and females separately, and in a data set from Hull and East Riding where a much smaller questionnaire was used that focussed only on drugs. So, this association can readily be replicated. It is tempting to interpret this finding as meaning that good drug education inhibits or retards experimentation with drugs. However, it might also be the case that those young people who are most likely to experiment with drugs are those least likely to respond well to drug education of any quality.
Perhaps the best reaction to these data is to ask ourselves how we can offer drug education that will be useful to all young people, whatever their background or likely future habits.
Notes for Editors
1. SHEU is an independent research and evaluation company. Founded in 1977, by John Balding, as the Schools Health Education Unit, the Unit is now part of SHEU. Our school surveys are reported each year in the 'Young People in...' series. 'Young People in 2002' will be available soon and a release will be available on this website.
2. The 13,809 Year 10 (14-15 year old) pupils referred to is not from a national survey. The accumulated data from the hundreds of school surveys we support each year, involving tens of thousands of young people, is a valuable resource of information and provides many opportunities for research. However, each annual sample of survey schools represents a different combination of regions within the UK, and is not a random sample selected for the purposes of providing a nationally representative picture. Our confidence in the representative nature of the data is based on a) its year on-year consistency and b) comparison, where possible, with data derived from surveys using carefully selected national samples.
Nevertheless, we caution against simple reporting and interpretation of our databanks as being from 'a national survey'.
If you require any further information contact Dr David Regis - Director and Research Manager Tel: 01392 667272