Using this site

Our goal in creating this site is to provide school professionals with ready access to quality information and tools that are both grounded in sound theory and readily applied in real-world settings.

The section on Comprehensive School Health provides a basic primer to the application of health promotion in the school setting. It introduces fundamental concepts and explains the theory that guides the selection of tools and information included on this site.

A database of Promising Practices provides the core content for the site. The selected practices are consistent with the principles of health promotion, and reinforce each other to create a comprehensive approach. Each promising practice is linked to discussions of the underlying evidence and to tools and other supports for implementation contained in the Evidence, Tools & Stories database.

iMinds is a set of classroom learning resources for Grades 6-10 that we in the process of developing and are that are currently being piloted in some BC schools. These resources are consistent with the model and promising practices presented here.

Our commitment

The Centre for Addictions Research of BC is committed to working with schools, parents and communities in the province to ensure young people are equipped to deal with their world which includes psychoactive substances. This involves identifying assets and designing and implementing policies and practices that promote safe environments, develop resilience and prevent harms.

Welcome to Helping Schools!

This resource is designed to help BC school professionals take effective action in addressing harms related to using alcohol and other drugs, or "psychoactive substances." It is based on a comprehensive school health approach, and grounded in a social ecological model of public health and health promotion.

In simple terms, this resource helps schools understand and address the range of multi-level factors that influence students' physical and mental health, including their choices and behaviours related to using alcohol and other drugs.

What makes this resource unique

Educating our school-aged children to embrace their health involves much more than teaching them not to use drugs. It involves helping them understand why people use drugs in the first place--the real and percieved benefits, the social influences, the role of history, culture, economics, politics and so on. It also involves being honest about the fact that there are often as many benefits as there are consequences to using alcohol and other drugs, though certain types and degrees of drug use will almost certainly cause harm to the user and the people around them.

Rather than follow the traditional approach, which focuses almost exclusively on how an individual's choices and behaviours determine their health and wellbeing, this resource puts much of its focus on the complex network of social and environmental factors that influence health, particularly in the area of drug-related choices and behaviours.

Healthy students–healthy school–healthy community

An effective response to drugs involves promoting health—not just treating or preventing problems. For schools, this means nurturing a healthy school environment that enhances the wellbeing of students, supports positive learning outcomes and contributes to creating a healthy community. Healthy students will, by and large, make healthy choices and, in turn, contribute to a healthy and positive school and community.

This is reflected in the social ecological model which recognizes the complex relationships through which factors operating at several levels contribute to the health and wellness of individuals and communities.

Health education programs help...

In order to make healthy choices about substances throughout their lives, all students should be exposed to educational experiences that increase their social and emotional competence and overall health literacy. Among other things, universal classroom education should convey accurate information on the risks and benefits of psychoactive substance use, and provide training on the practical skills necessary for applying this information in day‐to‐day life. Participatory education methods, which actively involve students in a skill‐based learning process, provide the most effective means of generating the practical knowledge and life skills that make up health literacy.

...but only if they have real-world relevance

To date, the provision of drug prevention information has been ineffective in changing substance-related behaviour among young people. Without question, this is partly a result of the ineffective approaches and propaganda‐like messages that seem part and parcel of traditional drug education programs. (Not only do most young people disregard the main messages of traditional approaches, but many dismiss drug education in general as irrelevant.)

To reverse this trend, educators need to first acknowledge that substance use is a cultural reality. That is, people in our culture (and almost every other culture) use a range of psychoactive substances—from coffee and painkillers to alcohol and cannabis—to help them in their daily lives. What needs attention, therefore, is not so much the substances themselves but the risks and harms associated with how, how much, how often, and why we use them. Addressing substance-related risks and harms requires a comprehensive approach that explores the cultural and environmental aspects of substance use, and prepares students to live and thrive in the real world.