Community Involvement

The U.S. Department of Education (n.d.) suggests the following ways that schools can involve the community in prevention efforts:

• "Educate the community about the extent of tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use by local youths by disseminating survey results. Be careful of privacy issues.

• Increase community understanding of the problem through open meetings, media coverage, and education programs.

• Invite community members to help shape the goals of a school drug policy and develop a plan for prevention and enforcement.

• Involve community members in creating or selecting a drug education curriculum.

• Ask every citizen to help enforce the school's no-use policy and to obey it when attending school-sponsored functions.

• Seek the cooperation of police officials in assessing a school's drug problem, and in evaluating the impact of policy and programs on community drug use.

• Encourage collaborative arrangements by bringing together staff, parents, school board members, police officials, treatment organizations, local merchants and professionals, and private groups to share ideas and expertise on education and prevention.

• Call on local health care professionals who have proven expertise in the area of drug addiction to share their knowledge of the effects of tobacco, alcohol, or other drug use with students, staff, parents, and community members.

• Work with owners of stores that sell tobacco and alcohol products to ensure that they and their employees know and observe state laws against selling to minors.

• Work with local officials to pass ordinances that help to discourage tobacco and alcohol use by students, such as limiting where vending machines are placed and where advertisements for these products may appear. Encourage vigorous enforcement of laws governing the sale of tobacco and alcohol to underage persons." (p. 25-26)

References