COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio schools are required by law to teach students about the dangers of drug abuse, but there’s no way of knowing exactly what they teach.
A panel of lawmakers and behavioral health officials want schools to report that information to the Ohio Department of Education. The recommendation is one of 15 to improve drug use prevention education made in a report released Friday by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.
The Ohio Joint Study Committee on Drug Use Prevention Education was formed last August to study how schools are teaching drug use prevention and recommend best practices as the state battles the heroin and opioid epidemic.
But the panel was unable to gauge opioid abuse prevention efforts statewide. The state doesn’t mandate a curriculum, and many schools did not respond to a survey asking what they do.
DeWine said during a Friday press conference that schools should have to report what curricula they’re using in which grades. DeWine said some schools have established solid drug prevention programs, but there’s no consistence statewide.
“Unless we educate our kids about the dangers of substance abuse, we’ll have a generation who sees drug use as a normal activity,” DeWine said.
Ohio law requires schools to teach about “the harmful effects of and legal restrictions against the use of drugs of abuse, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco.” But the state board of education is not allowed to set statewide health standards without the approval of the Ohio General Assembly.
The report released Friday:
- Offers schools suggestions for choosing and implementing a research-based curriculum.
- Recommends against using one-time assemblies, mock crashes and other scare tactics, as research shows they don’t work.
- Suggests schools help students build self-confidence and other skills that will help them make positive decisions.
- Teach opioid abuse education to Ohio college and university students studying to become teachers.
Gov. John Kasich already included the teacher education recommendation in his state budget plan.
Mobile readers, click here to read the report.
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