My Department has an important supporting role in the area of substance misuse prevention and has introduced major programme initiatives in schools. These include a focus on alcohol and tobacco as well as on other legal and illegal drugs.
The Department operates the ‘Walk Tall' programme at primary level and the ‘On My Own Two Feet' programme at post-primary level which started in 1995. These programmes combine the provision of materials with in-career development for teachers. The aim of the programmes is the development of the skills of students in saying no to the misuse of substances both legal and illegal. The approach advocated seeks to enable students to develop their abilities to take charge of their own health and welfare and to make conscious and informed decisions about the use of all forms of drugs, including tobacco, in their lives.
Under the ‘Walk Tall' programme at primary level, 569 teachers have completed a 30 hours training programme and 214 teachers have completed a week-long summer course. Planned expenditure over the two years 1999 and 2000 is £1 million after which the position will be reviewed. Expenditure on the Substance Misuse Prevention programme, from which the ‘Walk Tall' programme evolved in 1999, was over £450,000 for the three years 1996-98.
Under the ‘On my Own Two Feet' programme, training for post-primary teachers lasts 50 hours.
The programme has been introduced to over 70 per cent of post-primary schools and over 1600 teachers have attended the courses to date. Expenditure for 1999 is expected to be over £50,000. Expenditure in the years 1996 to 1998 was £272,000.
The programme was developed in cooperation with the Department of Health and Children and the Mater Dei Counselling Centre. The use of the programme materials in schools was evaluated independently during the development phase and showed that students participating in the programme were influenced in having more moderate and balanced outlooks on the role of drugs in their lives when compared with a matched group of students not participating in the programme. With the publication of the social personal and health education syllabus for Junior Cycle by the NCCA, changes will be considered for updating the materials for the programme.
In addition to the above, 40 schools are participants in the European Network of health promoting schools initiative. This initiative focuses on the development of supportive school climates, curriculum models of health promotion and the active involvement of teachers and parents in promoting a whole-school approach. The expenditure for the years 1996 to 1998 was £88,000.
