Be careful !

    Drug and alcohol abuse are important problems that affect school-age youth at earlier ages than in the past.Young people frequently begin to experiment with alcohol,tobacco,and other drugs during the  middle school years,with a smaller number starting during elementary school.
Existing studies have found a high correlation between adolescent abuse and becoming a problem drug user in adulthood; therefore, it can be inferred that many problem drug users start abusing drugs at an early age.

Students spend the major part of their day in school. The school environment provides a standard against which young people test behavior. School personnel often serve as highly influential role models by which preadolescents and adolescents judge themselves. Adolescents who perceive that their teachers care about them are less likely to initiate marijuana use, cigarette smoking, drinking to get drunk, and other health risk behaviors.Relationships with teachers and counselors are among the most important and formative ones for many students, especially middle school students.

 Schools may adopt a variety of alternatives to drug testing to address the issue of substance abuse, including offering after-school programs, incorporating life-skills training into drug education curricula, helping parents become better informed, providing counseling, identifying problem behaviors for early intervention, and promptly referring students to health care professionals for assessment and intervention. 

Schools are appropriate settings for drug prevention programs for 3 reasons: 

1. prevention must focus on children before their beliefs and expectations about substance abuse are established;
2.  schools offer the most systematic way of reaching young people; 
3.  schools can promote a broad spectrum of drug-related educational policies. Resources for the preparation of teachers, counselors, and other school personnel may be a valuable adjunct.

We must join hand in hand to fight this social scourge and raise awareness in Lebanese schools and universities.