Abstract:

The World Health Organization defines drugs as any substance which, once inside the organism, alters the central nervous system’s natural functioning and is susceptible to create dependence that is psychological or physical, or both. The most widespread drugs are tobacco, alcohol and cannabis. Different causes may lead to drug use in adolescents. One of the main ones is feeling curiosity and the need to know how these substances affect personality and felt emotions. In adolescence, peer groups will strongly influence the start of drug use. Drug use and abuse are main public health problems in today’s society.

The harmful effects of drug use and abuse vary, have been clearly evidenced, and increase in children aged under 13 years. At this age, the most widely used drugs are alcohol and tobacco, and cannabis is another frequently used drug. Cannabis use can make learning, concentration, coordination and attention difficult, and psychotic disorders may appear. Moreover, the age at which taking such substances starts is lowering, and more youths aged under 18 use them. Their side effects increase in youths under the age of 13.

Several programmes have been developed to avoid children using these substances at home and school with beneficial results. School is an excellent place to work in to set up educational programmes that make known the effects that these illegal substances have on health. As their use starts at increasingly younger ages, schools are considered ideal places to inform, make known the dangers of using these illegal drugs and prevent their use in this population. Thus work has been done in the last 10 years to design prevention programmes for adolescents and youths, with substantial benefits for preventing drug use.

The objective is to prepare an education programme on drugs for 11- and 12-year-olds to raise awareness about and prevent the harmful effects of these substances and their use in the near future.

The programme is for schools/colleges and comprises five sessions. The first session includes a short questionnaire devised by the authors that includes basic drug concepts. The second session is held outside class in a theatre as an educational intervention, with a fable about the theme and a small theatre with schoolchildren that end with two games, and all this with messages about drugs and their effects.

In class, schoolchildren will complete the same questionnaire while the programme is underway, after 15 days and after 1 month.

Keywords:

Children, drugs, prevention, awareness, programme, health, student, Nursing Degree.