Parent Drug Education: A Participatory Action Research Study Into Effective Communication About Drugs Between Parents and Unrelated Young People

• NCJ Number: 219824
• Journal: Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2007 Pages: 247-260
• Author(s): Jane Mallick
• Date Published: June 2007
• Length: 14 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

Utilizing an action research design, this study examined a pilot run of the drug education program, Drugsbridge, an education program for parents and unrelated young people facilitating intergenerational communication about drugs.

Abstract

Limited by the small sample and self-selected nature of the study participants, one of the most significant findings from the research was the value in having parents and unrelated young people attending a program together. Having parents and unrelated young people attend a drug education program together facilitated equal, two-way communication between the generations. Evidence showed that being unrelated contributed to balanced, in-depth discussions about drugs, and empowered young people to communicate with adults. This research suggests that involving “mixed” families in drug education could offer a promising approach to facilitating intergenerational communication and understanding. Drugsbridge has been a program that explicitly rejected a primary prevention “Just say no” approach to drug education. Instead, it has been an empowering approach, with a focus on effective two-way communication between parents and unrelated young people, thereby implementing an informed choice approach to drug education. Parents have a significant influence on their children’s lives. For this reason, parent drug education is considered a key aspect of drug prevention. Drugsbridge incorporates parents and unrelated young people. The parents attend the program with young people who are the same age as their own children, but none of the parents and young people are from the same family. The program adopts an informed choice approach that aims to elaborate the individual’s understanding of drug use and facilitate self-empowered and responsible decisionmaking. This study focuses on the parenting aspect of the program. The study examined the pilot run drug education program, and its facilitation of intergenerational communication about drugs between parent and unrelated young people. Tables, references