Our principles

Our commitment to the provision of high-quality, evidence-based drug education for young people is contained in the set of ten principles below.

They apply to drug education across a range of settings, including schools and informal community settings, and are based on an international evidence base of effective practice in drug education².

We believe that high quality drug education should:

1

Be based on accurate, up to date and relevant information, having appropriate theoretical framework(s) and supported by empirical research;

2

Be delivered in a series of structured, age-appropriate sessions, over multiple years, and embedded in a holistic, planned approach to young people’s health and wellbeing;

3

Incorporate elements of several prevention models with multi-component elements, involving parents, carers and the wider community;

4

Change perceptions of the risks associated with substance use, and challenge misconceptions regarding the normative nature and expectations linked to substance use;

5

Provide opportunities to practise and learn a range of personal and social skills, and include harm minimisation;

6

Be delivered by trained, competent and confident educators;

7

Use interactive approaches that include opportunities for reflection in order to nurture personal values;

8

Promote student resilience and social connectedness, and encourages strong relationships and communication between students, parents and schools;

9

Be provided within a learning environment which is safe for the children, young people and adults involved, and which is sensitive to the diversity of lived experiences, including childhood trauma and mental ill health;

10

Be relevant and meet the needs of children and young people, and actively involve them as participants, advocates and evaluators in developing good quality provision.