Intensifying anti-drug abuse information

The author is T-III at Duquit High School Angelita T. Mangilit

The Department of Education is urging schools to intensify anti-drug abuse information in communities as well as mobilization of scout leaders to integrate drug abuse prevention. This collaboration with the agency and LGUs will make sure that learners will stay away from the danger of drugs. As part of the Oplan Kalusugan (OK) sa DepEd initiative, the Department launched a five-episode webinar series for the National Drug Education Program (NDEP), which aims to educate the personnel of DepEd on the NDEP amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Drug Education Program is a comprehensive and holistic approach to address the problem of drug abuse. It was designed to enable all sectors to work collaboratively with the school system as the core, thereby unifying all the sectoral endeavors and components namely curriculum; co-curriculum; staff development; parent education and community outreach; and monitoring research and evaluation, officials said. The first episode of the webinar series titled “Helping Youth Stay Drug-Free Through Drug Literacy” tackled the importance of drug education in helping learners be aware of the harmful effects of drugs. As schools are setting for prevention, the family remains the most important protective factor. The most important role of the parents, the responsible adults, teachers, and prevention advocates is to be good role models for young people,” according to ASEAN officials. The NDEP and Barkada Kontra Droga (BKD) coordinators, teachers, health personnel, and other non-teaching personnel attended the first webinar. The second episode was titled “Psychosocial Support for Students at Risk of Substance Use” followed by episode three, “Going the Distance: Online Delivery of Drug Education”. The fourth and fifth episodes titled “The Implementation Cycle of Prevention Interventions” and “The Importance of Life Skills in Drug Prevention” will be available in September and October, respectively. Dangerous Drugs Board officials told participants that they are expected to convince themselves that their voice matters, and knowledge will spell out the differences in everyone. Their roles in this campaign against drugs does not have to wait for the future to come, and urged them to help now and to not be afraid to step up because everyone is in this together. Participants can rewatch the webinars via Facebook live stream on the DepEd Philippines Facebook page or through the recording available at PD-LMS. Certificates and copies of the presentation of the speakers are available after participants have completed the evaluation.