Abstract:

Substance abuse is one of the most difficult and pervasive issues that universities are attempting to address. The repercussions for students are catastrophic and devastating. Higher education students may be at risk for a variety of reasons, including frustration, depression, curiosity, and the desire for academic and social success. As future educators, however, they are expected to model a healthy lifestyle and create a safe environment for children to thrive and to prevent them from harm and have a positive impact on their learning, development, health and well-being.
The main aim of the research was to identify substance-related knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and opportunities for health education in students pursuing a degree in early childhood education in the Czech Republic.

Method:
The sample was constituted by 46 undergraduate students in early childhood education of a tertiary institution in the Czech Republic. Four focus groups was used to explore the views, experiences, beliefs and motivations of participants that aim to understand a phenomenon by describing participants’ lived experiences and opinions.

Results:
Based on reflection and influential interaction during focus group sessions, students identified both positive and negative aspects of their lives that posed a threat to their safety to stay drug free. Moreover, they identify cultural and societal factors that contribute to the significant increase in the drug abuse problem not just in the students but also among children, who are more likely to use illegal substances due to a lack of awareness as well as greater accessibility to substance use. However, campus-wide prevention campaigns and programs that emphasize information or awareness have minimal impact on actual drug use and effective prevention. According to students' perspective, life skills training can be an effective method for preventing drug abuse with age-appropriate didactic, informational, and skills-based programmes when all implemented promote effective substance abuse prevention.

Keywords:

Substance use prevention, illegal substances, drug prevention, drug prevention programmes.