Illicit drug action plans for parents and teachers

Action plans for parents and teachers

1. Parents
2. Teachers
3. Young People

Parents

I found a small packet containing something that looks like cannabis in my child's room, what shall I do?

Don't panic, and don't rush off to confront your child. Think about it calmly before doing anything. You might want to talk to your partner or other close friend about what should be done. One way to approach the situation is to talk to your child about how you trusted them to behave sensibly and you are disappointed to find they have been using cannabis. It is sometimes a powerful deterrent for parents/caregivers to tell their children about their disappointment at being let down. Most children want their parents/caregiver's approval. After you have expressed your concerns try to establish some ground-rules about drugs for the household. Make it clear how you expect your young person to behave in the future.

If you feel you need some support and guidance, or are worried about your child's drug habit you can contact a school counsellor or your local doctor. If it seems as if your youngster is using illicit drugs regularly you could talk to a Youth Aid officer at your local police station. There are also specialist DARE educational programmes for parents, run the by New Zealand Police and the DARE Foundation. In order to find out more about these go to the website (www.dare.org.nz), phone 0800DARENZ or (04) 2383020.

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Teachers

I have discovered a packet of cannabis in a school locker. I suspect my 15 year old student is selling it at school what shall I do?

Under the Ministry of Education guidelines, you are responsible to inform the Police about illegal drug use that comes to notice at school. If, after the Police has investigated and your suspicions are found to be correct, the file will be goven to a Youth Aid officer to see what type of action should be taken. Generally, if the offender is under 17 years, the offence will be dealt with using diversionary/family conference techniques rather than taken through court proceedings. If the young person needs treatment for addiction that can be arranged as well.

Methods to keep your secondary school drug-free

If you suspect that pupils are in possession of drugs, or you want to ensure that there are no drugs on-site, you can ask the police to search the school. A drug dog may be deployed to ensure that the school is drug-free.

In addition, the school can run the educational programme DARE Reducing the Harm. To find out more about this and other DARE programmes talk to you local Police Education Officer.

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Young People

A family member (mother, father, carer) is using illegal drugs and I am worried about them, what shall I do?

It is important to get them to seek help. Your doctor or local hospital will be able to suggest helping agencies in your locality. You may have to be prepared to report the illegal drug use to Police before the family member will be prepared to accept help.

My friend's parents have a drug lab in their house, what shall I do? I want to help, but I don't want to get my friend into trouble.

You should contact Police as soon as possible. If your friend is living in a house that you believe is being used to manufacture drugs like methamphetamine then it is important to get that stopped because the chemicals can be so harmful to their health. How would you feel if one of their children was seriously injured or became ill because you did nothing?