Erowid
 
 
Plants - Drugs Mind - Spirit Freedom - Law Arts - Culture Library  
Erowid References Database
Rogers A, McCarthy M. 
“Drugs and drugs education in the inner city: The views of 12-year-olds and their parents”. 
Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy. 1999 Mar;6(1):51-59.
Abstract
Examined the ideas and attitudes of 12- and 13-yr-olds and their parents regarding their own and other people's drug use, the drugs education provided at school, the strategies parents use to discourage drug use and parental expectations of school-based drugs education. A total of 158 youth and 97 parents were interviewed. Results indicate that youth were most knowledgeable about cocaine, cannabis, heroin, ecstasy, and LSD. Sixty (45%) of youth knew someone who used drugs and 48 (36%) knew someone of their own age who did so. Nine youth admitted to using drugs at some time; all had experimented or were still using cannabis. Cannabis users, for the most part, believed that this drug was less dangerous than other drugs, including alcohol. Nonusers often cited worries about negative effects and the high cost as reasons for nonuse or discontinued use of drugs. With regard to health education, 104 (66%) youth thought that school was the best place to learn about health. Parents tended to be more knowledgeable about drugs than were the youth surveyed, but felt that they did not know enough to educate their child. Strategies employed to influence their child's attitude toward using illegal drugs included bribes, coercion, threats, talking to their children, and resignation. ((c) 1999 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved)
Comments and Responses to this Article
#
Submit Comment
[ Cite HTML ]