Teaching about drugs - it's not about 'Just say no'

 I was sitting at the back of a very dull local authority meeting of professionals about drugs education and I was keen to leave, hoping that there wouldn't be many questions, a disheveled gentlemen stood up at the back and said 'This is not a question but just a point I would like to raise, I work for a drugs charity and as an ex-addict I would like to say ditch the scare tactics and don't tell the kids not to do it'.  This caused a bit of an interesting response from the room, but surely we can't tell them to do it? was the consensus.  'No, he replied it should be laid out as a choice, if you said to a kid like me don't do it, then it would be a green light for me to give it a try - you need to get across to the rebellious among the school community, the good kids won't try it because it's illegal anyway'.

So I reflected on this and when teaching drugs I refrained from the scare tactics and lecturing that I had been traditionally using.  I explained to the students that this was what drugs charities were saying and one student said 'So you're saying we can choose to take drugs' and I had to think quickly with a response 'well yes but with choices come consequences, if you choose to break the law you know what the consequences are, if you choose to walk across the road in front of a car you know what the consequences are'.  This thankfully subdued the student and I didn't get a parental complaint.  The focus should be on consequences, we teach the students the impact and they work out their decisions for themselves as young adults.

So we must be factual with our information, a good chat or even guest appearance from a biology teacher would not go amiss.  It is important not to glamorize taking drugs and that includes alcohol which does has a raised status in British society.  Alcohol is such a prevalent drug used in the UK that the students will already know much about it already.

To share some ideas about teaching drugs:

• Identify misconceptions:  Students assume that all young people are taking drugs and that more of them are trying it.  The fact of the matter is that the number of young people taking drugs is actually in decline or staying static.  For the latest statistics see the NHS website.
• Set up top trumps drugs:  Be lazy ask your students or a sixth form helper to do the research and create a statistical slide for each drug (if you print out in notes form you have a set of playing cards).  A template can be found here on the TES.  You can then spend some time analysing the statistics and debating 'Britain's most dangerous drug'.  All the while the students are having fun and not realising that they are using some higher level critical thinking skills.
• Talk to Frank is the best reference for information about drugs.  If you are not sure how to approach then refer to this.
• Keep an eye on the news there are occasional stories that can help you with the law.  This one from the BBC caught my eye and I ask students to decide on sentencing.  Also an emphasis on what can happen if you are taking or carrying drugs from abroad.  Also NHS behind the headlines is a really good critical analysis of news stories - my favourite go to resource.
• Play pointless:  Thanks Mrs. Medley, a seasoned PSHE teacher, who invented this game.  Really useful for building on knowledge and creating a very competitive atmosphere in the classroom.  Put simply, you ask all the students to make a list e.g consequences of alcohol.  They then play pointless, choose 3 students who give an answer that they hope that no-one else in the room has thought of.  All students are involved because they point to the answer and raise their hand to stop the competitors getting pointless.  A copy of the slide is here.
• Use questionnaires on google form (these can be anonymous) and ask your students to fill them in to find misconceptions.  Use the NHS statistics website above for statistics.
• Use the resources available from the many charities that are around.  Many of the following provide lesson plans and information: re-solv (VSA), safe4me, drinkaware, Alcohol Education Trust, riseabove (PHE) and Talk to Frank (see above).  Also please contact your local alcoholics anonymous branch to come and do a talk (year 11 and above) to really break down stereotypes and realise the disease that is alcoholism.

Teaching PSHE - Here are some tips

This lesson will save your life.  I know it's a bit of an exaggeration but when you look at the content of the subject there really are some life saving interventions.  I have been head of PSHE for 10 years, teaching countless children, in a very busy secondary school and I hope that at some point they would remember some of the key pointers from PSHE lessons.  If you have been asked to teach PSHE then you are in a very privileged club.   Don't listen to the traditionalist teachers who say it is 'only' PSHE, having not put their heart and soul into this subject, they just don't understand but the students will get it (well not all but we will deal with that).

So here are my top tips for teaching this life saving subject:

1) SET YOUR EXPECTATIONS: Give out an overview document with the subjects you will be studying this year, preparation is key for vulnerable students or those with special needs. Ask students to mark on where they may feel uncomfortable and why, it is also important to ask students to identify if they want to talk about the issue with their teacher.  For me this has brought out interesting outcomes including a student who felt uncomfortable when discussing LGBT issues because his parent's views were not very 'right on' and his classmates tended to turn on him.  I was able to speak to him on his own and give him respect for speaking out and a chat about forming his own opinions.

2) FORGE RELATIONSHIPS QUICKLY: The best way to do this is to finish off the sentence 'I would like my PSHE teacher to know'.  Tell students they can write anything they like and they will tell you about their favourite pet, hobbies and youtuber, moreover a child may disclose something deep and meaningful which may really help you understand their motivations.

3)  RULES/BOUNDARIES:  You could ask the students to work out the rules but it's time consuming and not necessary.  Make them simple and keep them visual every lesson, perhaps set up an template slide like this for every lesson.

4) WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF WE DIDN'T TEACH PSHE?  Some of your more academic students may reject PSHE, they have worked out there's no GCSE in it and so have a bit of a 'what's the point?' attitude.  This needs to be nipped in the bud early so a useful exercise is to take your overview document and start with an extended question 'What would happen if we didn't teach PSHE'.  You can model an answer and really stretch the more able and gifted with some really creative outcomes.  Those students who are rather opinionated can be encouraged to empathise by the phrase 'What would someone say who disagreed with you?'

5)  SAFE/UNCERTAIN QUADRANT: I completed this exercise on a training course with Stonewall - if you haven't checked out their resources they are excellent.  You put up the quadrant and ask the students where they want to be.  They then nearly always say 'safe and certain' but actually this is not where we want students (or indeed teachers) to be, we want them to be uncertain so that they are comfortable with asking questions.  Your classroom should be a place where they can feel comfortable asking questions and being safe and uncertain is something that you can constantly refer to and praise students for.

6) INCREASE YOUR SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE: There are countless charities out there to help improve your knowledge of PSHE, moreover a good eye on the news to related topics can bring literacy into the classroom.

So that's my top tips for starting to teach PSE, I have added a list of lesson ideas that you can use throughout the year, I hope that they are helpful.

Overview Document

Lesson Plan Template

Safe/Uncertain Quadrant

PSE teaching